[IRCServices Coding] contributing to ircservices : legal and coding standards problems

[Andrew Church]

>This isn't the point. GNU indent automatizes the process of formatting
>code.

     This is exactly why I _don't_ want it used.  One reason is that some
formatting decisions are readability decisions (e.g. "does it look better
with or without the space?"), which a computer can't make.  Good coding
style isn't just about how many spaces you put where--it's about making the
code readable.  The other reason--and I freely admit that this is biased;
c'est la vie--is that if you're a good enough programmer, matching someone
else's style isn't such a big problem that you need a tool to do it, and if
you're not that good a programmer, then I probably wouldn't use your code
anyway.  (As I say in the FAQ, I almost never accept code from _anyone_; I
usually take just the suggestions and implement them myself.  This way I
can keep a better mental image of the program and find problems more
quickly.)

  --Andrew Church
    achurch at achurch.org
    http://achurch.org/