Hi,
I vote for 80; and agree that breaking this limit with an
infrequent 85 or very rare 100 may be best for overall readability.
132 is not in my solution set.
I have a 15" monitor, and my young eyes prefer large fonts.
I wouldnt be opposed to changing the indent level from 3 to 2.
In 90 pages on layout, commenting, etc. mcconnell2004 devotes
only 1/3 page to line length. His last sentence is
"With modern technology, it's probably all right to exceed 80
columns occasionally."
Scott
.book{mcconnell2004,
author = "{Steve McConnell}",
title = "Code Complete",
edition = "Second",
publisher = "Microsoft Press",
address = "Redmond, WA",
year = 2004 }
You guessed it; this is another classic and probably the only
encyclopedic guide to software development.
On Thu, 23 Nov 2006, Robert Duke wrote:
> I understand what you mean about multiple lcd's attached to one machine, but
> I cannot imagine going past about 2, because what I need is the ability to
> switch my focus back and forth across related info in either different files
> or different parts of the same file. I personally can't go walleyed and
> actually focus/compare at wide separations. I am personally just thrilled
> to have one 24" monitor for code dev, thrilled to be getting a second for
> all the other stuff on the windows box; maybe times have changed, but I
> don't think the avg developer is going to have 4 24" monitors in front of
> him for a while. I can live with 100 char myself, larger would be a
> nuisance sometimes. Where I really like a longer line, actually, is when
> formatting output, where the line you throw out is maybe 80 char, but you
> have another 20 char of junk around it to get it written out, indenting,
> etc. Minor case.
> Regards - Bob
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ross Walker" <ross.rosswalker.co.uk>
> To: <amber-developers.scripps.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2006 12:04 PM
> Subject: RE: amber-developers: amber10 code broken in qm2_dftb_gb.f
>
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > My apologies here for using long lines although I do try to keep them
> > below
> > 132 characters. I think that the code is cleaner this way as it is easier
> > to
> > read. At least if you have a high res screen and a large terminal. You
> > don't
> > need to use small fonts, the default is fine.
> >
> >> chars. I say this because I typically bring up at least 4
> >> windows to do
> >> code work, and may need that many windows or more to get the
> >> total context
> >> needed. So when you go to really long lines, you can limit
> >
> > Ah you see this is the difference. What you need are 4 monitors side by
> > side, you can do it really well with multiple pc's if you don't have a 4
> > way
> > graphics card - see http://synergy2.sourceforge.net
> >
> > I use this approach and just have 4 code windows open, each one maximized
> > on
> > a separate screen. Then you can easily get 132 character long lines in and
> > it is really easy to follow the context across multiple source files.
> > Another option that works well are the widescreen flat panel screens they
> > make these days. You can use these in either a horizontal or a vertical
> > orientation. Setting them up vertically works great, then with 2 of them
> > side by side you can have 2 full width windows on one, one on top of the
> > other, and two on the other monitor. Or if you prefer you can maximize a
> > terminal on one and then you get around 140 characters wide by about 150
> > lines long - very very useful when looking through long subroutines.
> >
> > Though I guess not everyone can do this in which case I will defer to
> > whatever the masses want. I am loathed to go as short as 80 characters as
> > this takes us back to the days of fortran 77 almost. I think the limit in
> > Fortran 90 is 132 characters so perhaps we can pick something in the
> > middle
> > say 100 or so.
> >
> > All the best
> > Ross
> >
> >
> > /\
> > \/
> > |\oss Walker
> >
> > | HPC Consultant and Staff Scientist |
> > | San Diego Supercomputer Center |
> > | Tel: +1 858 822 0854 | EMail:- ross.rosswalker.co.uk |
> > | http://www.rosswalker.co.uk | PGP Key available on request |
> >
> > Note: Electronic Mail is not secure, has no guarantee of delivery, may not
> > be read every day, and should not be used for urgent or sensitive issues.
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: owner-amber-developers.scripps.edu
> >> [mailto:owner-amber-developers.scripps.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Duke
> >> Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2006 07:04
> >> To: amber-developers.scripps.edu
> >> Subject: Re: amber-developers: amber10 code broken in qm2_dftb_gb.f
> >>
> >> Hi guys,
> >> Late responding, after dealing with power being down out here
> >> until about
> >> 1:00 am last night. We don't have earthquakes, just other sources of
> >> excitement. I tend to stick to 80 character lines because
> >> not all terminal
> >> interfaces can handle anything bigger very smoothly. Now, if
> >> we are all
> >> using xterm-based stuff on linux boxes that resizes nicely,
> >> then there are
> >> some instances where longer lines can make the code more
> >> readable, in my
> >> view, but I would still prefer that lengths not get much
> >> longer than 100
> >> chars. I say this because I typically bring up at least 4
> >> windows to do
> >> code work, and may need that many windows or more to get the
> >> total context
> >> needed. So when you go to really long lines, you can limit
> >> yourself to just
> >> a couple of contexts effectively - two wide windows. And Tom
> >> is right that
> >> some of us do have limits as to how small we can set our
> >> default font, so
> >> that limits our ability to just make the window smaller :-)
> >> One way I deal
> >> with writing code within an 80 line limitation is to use 2
> >> char indents (I
> >> think you all have code-standardized on 3 but pmemd was all
> >> at 2 beforehand,
> >> so I am not exactly rushing right out to reformat it all,
> >> especially since I
> >> like the benefit of not having to deal with line wrapping
> >> more often). The
> >> other thing to remember here is that if your driving force
> >> behind really
> >> long lines is dealing with deep indentation levels, then
> >> putting appropriate
> >> chunks of code in subroutines can help. Chances are that if
> >> you are 15
> >> indent levels deep, you could write the code better. This is
> >> all what would
> >> be called "religion", just like language wars - no correct
> >> answers, but that
> >> is how I would justify the choices I have made.
> >> Happy Holidays to all - Bob
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "darden" <darden.gamera.niehs.nih.gov>
> >> To: <amber-developers.scripps.edu>
> >> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 5:51 PM
> >> Subject: Re: amber-developers: amber10 code broken in qm2_dftb_gb.f
> >>
> >>
> >> > maybe no one else is replying---i usually get annoyed with overflow
> >> > lines---editor behaves strangely unless terminal set up
> >> right---so i like
> >> > an 80 character line limit--although I'm probably guilty as well of
> >> > violating it
> >> >
> >> > also let me just register my general annoyance with these
> >> generation Y
> >> > small font guys---just a form of age discrimination if you
> >> ask me--grrr
> >> > td
> >> >
> >> > On Wed, 22 Nov 2006, David A. Case wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> In the process of fixing up Amber 10's qm2_dftb_gb code
> >> (see CVS logs), I
> >> >> again faced the line-length problem for sander code.
> >> >>
> >> >> It has been apparent for some time that lots of people are
> >> unwilling to
> >> >> live
> >> >> with 80 character lines, and maybe that is a good idea in
> >> a modern age.
> >> >> But
> >> >> I also don't think we should allow arbitrarily long lines
> >> either, just
> >> >> because
> >> >> some particular person (initials are RCW) likes to use a
> >> small font and a
> >> >> giant terminal. The code becomes very difficult to read
> >> for everyone
> >> >> else.
> >> >>
> >> >> So I'm looking for input: what do people think we should
> >> enforce as a
> >> >> line
> >> >> length limit? And, do we have any formatters for Fortran
> >> that do this?
> >> >> (We can use indent for C-code, but I don't know where
> >> things stand for
> >> >> F90
> >> >> code).
> >> >>
> >> >> ...thanks for your input....dac
Received on Sun Nov 26 2006 - 06:07:28 PST
