[Python-Dev] Running Clang 2.7's static analyzer over the code base

[Zvezdan Petkovic]

On May 4, 2010, at 8:41 AM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
> I think we should reindent all 3 branches. Most of the work can probably be scripted (str.replace("\t", " " * 4)), and then a visual pass is necessary to fix vertical alignments and the like.

> 
> I think we should reindent all 3 branches. Most of the work can probably be scripted (str.replace("\t", " " * 4)), and then a visual pass is necessary to fix vertical alignments and the like.

Is it really that simple?

People often do the following:

- use tabs inside strings ("\t" should be used instead);
- use tabs for alignment of inline comments on the right side;
- mix tabs and spaces for indentation whitespace (continuation lines);
- use tabs for alignment inside comments.

A simple replacement of a tab with 4 spaces as you propose does not work  on such a code.

To do it properly, you may end up reinventing `indent` (UNIX program).

What if there was a set of `indent` flags defined for PEP-7?
It would be a nice tool to check whether a new code complies.

However, running `indent` on an existing code would probably cause non-whitespace changes too as it rearranges the comments and code.

I'm afraid that any other kind of "script + visual pass + post-edit" would incur similar changes if done properly (only more tedious).

So, the question is what bothers developers more:

- old C files with tab indentation, or
- a lot of changes in version control to fix them?

Both?
:-)

	Zvezdan