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

[Lie Ryan]

Jan Kanis wrote:
> There is, of course, a correct solution to this line length problem.
> The ideal maximum line length is dependent on how much horizontal
> space you've got, so the code should be automatically wrapped to your
> window size. That's how all other text displaying systems work, from
> html to word processors. It's just code that's the exception*.
> 
> This would require good automatic wrapping, which is a bit more
> difficult for code than for English, but automatic reformatting
> utilities already exist. It would also require tool support, so
> everyone would need to use editors like emacs or something else that's
> programmable. Just your favorite notepad-on-steroids variant won't
> suffice anymore.
> 
> Of course, it's only 2009 and this is all very much py-in-the-sky.
> (Though who knows what Python 6000 will bring...)
> 
> * another exception are config files, but more and more people are
> writing gui config editors, which adapt to the window size, so these
> too are following the trend.
> 
> 
> The only backward compatible way I can think of to implement this is
> to tell your emacs or other programmable editor to automatically
> display files according to your window width, and wrap them to
> 80/whatever cpl in the on disk representation when you save. And add
> some magic so it only changes those parts of the file in the on disk
> representation that you actually edited, deal smartly with line
> numbering, etc, etc.
> 
> 
> Jan

There are reasons why carpenters used simple tools like hammer and nails 
instead of sophisticated machine that can do everything from chopping 
the trees to polishing.