Enforcing a coding style [closed]

Answer 1

The biggest problem with using automatic code formatters is when the code formatter can't handle every scenario.

For example, if you have lots of SQL in your code, you probably format the SQL automatically. But if your SQL is longer than one line (how long is a line, anyway?) then you have to format it. So far I've yet to see a good formatter than can deal with this properly.

Example:

String sql = "SELECT * FROM USERS WHERE ID = ? AND NAME = ? AND IS_DELETED = 'N'";

vs

String sql = 
  "SELECT * " +
  "FROM USERS " + 
  "WHERE ID = ? " + 
  "  AND NAME = ? " +
  "  AND IS_DELETED = 'N'";

The second format is more readable when you have really long queries. Most formatters would de-format that into one long line up to the line length.

However if all you're doing is turning

if(x=1) print("blah"); else print("eep!");

into

if (x = 1) {
  print("blah");
} else {
  print("eep!");
}

then the formatter is ok. We do something similar at work; it isn't enforced by the CVS tool but rather by the IDE. Works reasonably well.