[webkit-dev] python coding style, PEP-8, and 80-column line widths

[Maciej Stachowiak]

On Apr 16, 2010, at 1:48 PM, Eric Seidel wrote:

> <bike-shedding>
>
> I think 80 columns is a waste of time and hurts readability.
>
> Instead of being smart about when we wrap code, 80 adheres to a
> blanket rule, discourages long variable/function names, and needlessly
> expands code vertically ignoring modern wider-than-long monitors.
>
> The optparse code which was recently re-wrapped is one example of 80c
> fail.  Impossible to tell in the wrapped version which arguments are
> actually being listed (first argument to the function) because your
> eye can't parse the start of each line.
>
> That said.  I'd rather have you and Adam and Chris all working on the
> Python than have folks lose interest due to code wrapping.  If the
> consensus is 80c, I'll learn to deal. :)
>
> The choice is either:
> A. no wrapping rule to match the rest of WebKit
> B. 80c to match the official PEP8 spec (and Google code).
>
> I've chosen A. in the past.  Mostly to match my own personal bias  
> I'm sure.

I haven't contributed to WebKit's Python code yet, but I will say that  
I agree with Eric's sentiments here. 80-column limit is archaic and  
pointless. No one is developing WebKit on a vt220.

Regards,
Maciej