Re: [PATCH 1/4] editorconfig: set maximum line length to 120 characters

From: Justin Tobler <jltobler@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 26, 2025, 16:22 UTC
Message-ID: <qxewasf6rxt6mnbwvfhxarcbvfsn6cnc2jskpddsb5fhxfhpwq@5d727iud7wfp>
In-Reply-To: <20250625-525-make-clang-format-more-robust-v1-1-67a49ecc2fd5@gmail.com>

On 25/06/25 06:43PM, Karthik Nayak wrote:

Show 8 quoted lines

> As per 'Documentation/CodingGuidelines', we try to keep to at most 80
> characters per line. However, there are often certain cases where we
> extend this for the sake of readability.
> 
> Add a maximum limit of 120 characters to the '.editorconfig'. This means
> that if an individual line exceeds 120 characters, the editor will wrap
> that line. This provides a lot wiggle room over the recommended 80
> character limit.

I frequently use the format operator in vim to reformat entire blocks of text and it is commonly configured to use `max_line_length` from an `.editorconfig` file to know when to wrap lines. Changing the value to 120 would cause my editor to prefer 120 character lines when reformatting, which I would personally not like.

Being that `max_line_length` is only a suggestion for the editor, I think we may be better off setting it to 80 characters or leaving it unset entirely.

-Justin

Show 9 quoted lines

> Contrary to settings within '.clang-format' which are used for
> statically formatting source code, the '.editorconfig' rules are hints
> to the editor. These are not enforced by CI and are guidelines for
> editors to follow. As such, the 'max_line_length' used here is only
> supported in a set of editors [1].
> 
> [1]: https://github.com/editorconfig/editorconfig/wiki/EditorConfig-Properties#max_line_length
> 
> Signed-off-by: Karthik Nayak <karthik.188@gmail.com>