Re: [RFCv3 2/4] Add Python support library for CVS remote helper

From: Michael Haggerty <mhagger@alum.mit.edu>
Date: Aug 13, 2009, 00:00 UTC
Message-ID: <4A83579E.70302@alum.mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <200908121108.28714.johan@herland.net>

Johan Herland wrote:

Show 15 quoted lines

> On Wednesday 12 August 2009, David Aguilar wrote:
>> On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 02:13:49AM +0200, Johan Herland wrote:
>>> +	def __init__ (self, date, author, message):
>>> +		self.revs    = {}      # dict: path -> CvsRev object
>>> +		self.date    = date    # CvsDate object
>>> +		self.author  = author
>>> +		self.message = message # Lines of commit message
>> pep8 and other parts of the git codebase recommend against
>> lining up the equals signs like that.  Ya, sorry for the nits
>> being that they're purely stylistic.
> 
> I can't find a good rationale for this rule in PEP8 (other than Guido's 
> personal style), and I personally find the above much more readable 
> (otherwise I wouldn't go through the trouble of lining them all up...). Can 
> I claim exception (1) (readability)?

I think you are missing the point. It may be true that the rules in PEP8 were *originally* written according to the unjustified whims of the BDFL, but now that they are established the reason for following them is not that Guido likes them but rather to be consistent with the bulk of other Python code on the planet.

With respect to the rule to use 4-space indents, there are serious practical problems with using tabs *in addition to* the consistency argument.

Michael