[Python-ideas] Suggestion: Integrate the script "pindent.py" as standard command for formatting pyhton code

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Thu, 26 May 2011 09:15:37 pm Serge Hulne wrote:
> It is my feeling that without such a tool Python is inherently very
> vulnerable to glitches occurring at editing time:

I can't think of any language that is invulnerable to the errors you 
list. All languages are vulnerable to glitches occurring at edit time. 
Picking your second example:

>       2. Tab key inadvertently hit.

If you inadvertently hit the tab key in the middle of a line:

    n = le	n(mylist)  # oops, hit the tab key!

do you expect it to keep working? No. Then why treat the start of the 
line any different? There might be some places that, *by chance*, an 
extra tab won't break the code:

    n = len(	mylist)

but you shouldn't rely on that. In general, you should expect ANY and 
EVERY mutation of source code could break your code, and avoid tools or 
practices that insert arbitrary changes you didn't intend. Don't let 
your cat walk on the keyboard while editing source code, don't put your 
code through a tool that turns text into fake Swedish, and don't use 
tools that mangle whitespace. It is commonsense really.

There are broken tools out there -- especially web forum software -- 
that arbitrarily mutate whitespace in source code. Those tools are 
broken, and should be avoided. If you can't avoid them, you have my 
sympathy, but that's your problem, not Python's, and Python doesn't 
need to be integrated with a tool for fixing broken source code.



-- 
Steven D'Aprano