79 chars or more?

[MRAB]

Almar Klein wrote:
> 
[snip]
> 
> I am in favor of the 80-char limit also. Besides the arguments listed 
> above, when using an IDE it gives you that extra horizontal space to fit 
> some IDE specific tools (such as source structure).
> 
> I must admit that I'm sometimes slightly frustrated when an expression 
> is JUST 81 chars, and I *need* to reformat to two lines. On the other 
> hand, very long lines are hard to read also. I guess the limit must be 
> placed somewhere, and for historical reasons, 80 chars makes the most 
> sense IMO.
> 
> On a related note, why is the limit mentioned in PEP8 79 chars, and not 
> 80? I never understood this :)
> 
If the display is limited to 80 characters then after printing the 80th
the cursor will be at the start of the next line and the newline will
cause the display to leave a blank line (unless the display has some
intelligence and supports pending newlines, of course).