[Tutor] Are you allowed to shoot camels? [kinda OT]

[Alan Gauld]

> second example.  I'm sure what those studies show is what the
"majority"
> find easier not what "everyone" finds easier.

They are statistical its true, but they were based on the folks
who actually used the second style indent and they actually
got worse scores in the tests using their own style than when
they used the style they were less used too.

The tests have been repeated many times using multiple
languages and thousands of subjects ranging from students
through to professionals with years of experience.

The reasons for the K&R style of brace winning is to do
with the way the brain process structure and despite
the subjects stated preference for the 'Pascal' style
they still had lower perception scores.

As I said its not a style issue its to do with how the
brain works and the outcome of a lot of studies over at
least 30 years produces a pretty solid case.

> left-brain, right-brain thing.

Nope they tried that too, comparing creative types with
science types etc. Same result.

> told my brain was "wired differently" from the general
> public.  Just ask my wife :-)

And they tried mixing up the sexes too, no difference.
There may be a few individuals for whom it doesn't apply
but in the vast majority of cases its a fact.

In fact the best style of all is neither of the two I showed,
its actually this - which early everyone hates when they see it!

inf f(x)
    {
    bah()
    }

After reading the studies I changed my C style to the above,
it certainly hasn't made my code harder to debug and I don't
see any increase in bug count, but I can't honestly say I
notice a reduction either, but it helps to know that I'm
increasing the chances of my code being understood by
someone else...

Alan G.