catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  indent style
       
           The rules one uses to indent code in a readable
          fashion.  There are four major C indent styles, described
          below; all have the aim of making it easier for the reader to
          visually track the scope of control constructs.  The
          significant variable is the placement of "{" and "" with
          respect to the statement(s) they enclose and to the guard or
          controlling statement ("if", "else", "for", "while", or "do")
          on the block, if any.
       
          "K&R style" - Named after Kernighan & Ritchie, because the
          examples in K&R are formatted this way.  Also called "kernel
          style" because the Unix kernel is written in it, and the
          "{One True Brace Style" (abbreviation 1TBS) by its partisans.
          The basic indent shown here is eight spaces (or one tab) per
          level; four spaces are occasionally seen, but are much less
          common.
       
           if (cond) {
          	
           
       
          "Allman style" - named after Eric Allman, a Berkeley hacker
          who wrote a lot of the BSD utilities in it (it is sometimes
          called "BSD style").  Resembles normal indent style in
          Pascal and ALGOL.  Basic indent per level shown here is
          eight spaces, but four spaces are just as common (especially
          in C++ code).
       
           if (cond)
           {
          	
           
       
          "Whitesmiths style" - popularised by the examples that came
          with Whitesmiths C, an early commercial C compiler.  Basic
          indent per level shown here is eight spaces, but four spaces
          are occasionally seen.
       
           if (cond)
          	{
          	
          	
       
          "GNU style" - Used throughout GNU Emacs and the Free
          Software Foundation code, and just about nowhere else.
          Indents are always four spaces per level, with "{" and ""
          halfway between the outer and inner indent levels.
       
           if (cond)
            {
              
            
       
          Surveys have shown the Allman and Whitesmiths styles to be the
          most common, with about equal shares.  K&R/1TBS used to be
          nearly universal, but is now much less common.  The opening
          brace tends to get lost against the right parenthesis of the
          guard part in an "if" or "while", which is a Bad Thing.
          Defenders of 1TBS argue that any putative gain in readability
          is less important than their style's relative economy with
          vertical space, which enables one to see more code on one's
          screen at once.  Doubtless these issues will continue to be
          the subject of holy wars.
       
          [{Jargon File]
       
          (1995-07-24)
       
       

  indent style n. [C, C++, and Java programmers] The rules one uses to
     indent code in a readable fashion. There are four major C indent styles,
     described below; all have the aim of making it easier for the reader to
     visually track the scope of control constructs. They have been inherited
     by C++ and Java, which have C-like syntaxes. The significant variable is
     the placement of `{' and `' with respect to the statement(s) they
     enclose and to the guard or controlling statement (`if', `else', `for',
     `while', or `do') on the block, if any.
  
     `K&R style' -- Named after Kernighan & Ritchie, because the examples
     in K&R are formatted this way. Also called `kernel style' because the
     Unix kernel is written in it, and the `One True Brace Style' (abbrev.
     1TBS) by its partisans. In C code, the body is typically indented by
     eight spaces (or one tab) per level, as shown here. Four spaces are
     occasionally seen in C, but in C++ and Java four tends to be the rule
     rather than the exception.
  
    if () {
            
    
    
     `Allman style' -- Named for Eric Allman, a Berkeley hacker who wrote a
     lot of the BSD utilities in it (it is sometimes called `BSD style').
     Resembles normal indent style in Pascal and Algol. It is the only style
     other than K&R in widespread use among Java programmers. Basic indent
     per level shown here is eight spaces, but four (or sometimes three)
     spaces are generally preferred by C++ and Java programmers.
  
    if ()
    {
            
    
    
     `Whitesmiths style' -- popularized by the examples that came with
     Whitesmiths C, an early commercial C compiler. Basic indent per level
     shown here is eight spaces, but four spaces are occasionally seen.
  
    if ()
            {
            
            
    
     `GNU style' -- Used throughout GNU EMACS and the Free Software
     Foundation code, and just about nowhere else. Indents are always four
     spaces per level, with `{' and `' halfway between the outer and inner
     indent levels.
  
    if ()
      {
        
      
    
     Surveys have shown the Allman and Whitesmiths styles to be the most
     common, with about equal mind shares. K&R/1TBS used to be nearly
     universal, but is now much less common in C (the opening brace tends to
     get lost against the right paren of the guard part in an `if' or
     `while', which is a Bad Thing). Defenders of 1TBS argue that any
     putative gain in readability is less important than their style's
     relative economy with vertical space, which enables one to see more code
     on one's screen at once.
  
     The Java Language Specification legislates not only the capitalization
     of identifiers, but where nouns, adjectives, and verbs should be in
     method, class, interface, and variable names (section 6.8). While the
     specification stops short of also standardizing on a bracing style, all
     source code originating from Sun Laboratories uses the K&R style. This
     has set a precedent for Java programmers, which most follow.
  
     Doubtless these issues will continue to be the subject of holy wars.