Is it “bad practice” to use tab characters in string literals?

Question

As a follow-up on Is it mandatory to escape tabulator characters in C and C++? (do note I\'m not the author of said question).

I\'ve learned such code is considered

Answer 1

Using tabs in litterals instead of escaping them ('\t',"\t") is a bad practice because :

• the reader is not immediately aware that there is a tab. Consequence: wrong assumptions about code, wrong changes (for example when allignemnt of code output needs to be adapted)
• the tab expansion might be different depending on your editor. Consequence: hindering of teamwork and maintenance, as different people may see different layouts.
• MOST OF ALL: some editors convert tabs to spaces when saving your source file (using the configured tab expansion settings) getting rid of such embedded tabs. Consequence: unnoticed/undesired change (f.ex: when a teammember uses such an editor and make a minor edit, not even in this string).