[Python-ideas] 80 character line width vs. something wider

[George Sakkis]

On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 1:44 PM, Raymond Hettinger <python at rcn.com> wrote:
>
>>> As pointed out elsewhere in this thread, very often the superior
>>> solution is not to re-*format* the same statement to fit, but to
>>> re-*factor* the code so it's less deeply indented or does less in each
>>> statement.
>>
>> Yes, "refactor" is a much better word than "reformat" for what I was
>> thinking.
>
> So, it seems that support for an 80 character limit is rooted in a desire
> to have other people program differently than they do, somehow making
> their programs better just because they are adhering to an arbitrary limit
> on horizontal text width.  That seems somewhat magical.  Maybe the limit
> should be 40 chars, then everyone will have to refactor, and line wrap, and
> use smaller idents (like Google does), and use more abbreviated variable
> names.
>
> Maybe the origin of the 80 char limit isn't an anachronism.  Maybe it had
> nothing to do with teletypes and low resolution CRTs.  Perhaps, the
> programming gods of old were reaching into the future with certain
> knowledge that they were forcing everyone to do the right thing.
>
> Who knew?

Or we can simply interpret the N-chars bound as a soft limit and feel
free to exceed it by one character or three if it makes more sense. I
am certainly not breaking a line for a single extra character.

George