Is there a valid reason for enforcing a maximum width of 80 characters in a code file, this day and age? [closed]

Answer 1

I thing not enforcing 80 characters means eventually word wrapping.
IMO, any length chosen for a max-width line is not always appropriate and word wrapping should be a possible answer.
And that is not as easy as it sound.

It is implemented in jedit
_{(source: jedit.org)} which offers word wrap

But it is bitterly missed in eclipse from a looong time ! (since 2003 in fact), mainly because a word wrap for text editor involves:

• Wrapped line information is for the text viewer, code navigation, vertical rulers.
• Unwrapped line information is required for functionalities like goto line, line numbering ruler column, current line highlight, saving file.

Answer 2

I actually follow a similar rule for my own code but only because of printing code to an A4 page - 80 columns is about the right width for my desired font size.

But that's personal preference and probably not what you were after (since you want ammo to go the other way).

What don't you question the reasoning behind the limit - seriously, if no-one can come up with a good reason why it's so, you have a good case for having it removed from your coding standards.

Answer 3

If we had one of these, we wouldn't be having this discussion! ;-)

But seriously the issues that people have raised in their answers are quite legitimate. However the original poster was not arguing against a limit, merely that 80 columns is too few.

The issue of emailing code snippets has some merit. But considering the evil things that most email clients do to pre-formatted text I think that line wrapping is only one of your problems.

As for printing I usually find that 100 character lines will very comfortably fit onto a printed page.

Answer 4

People say long lines of code tend to be complex. Consider a simple Java class:

public class PlaintiffServiceImpl extends RemoteServiceServlet implements PlaintiffService {

This is 94 characters long and the class name is quite short (by GWT standards). It would be difficult to read on 2 lines and it is very readable on one line. Being pragmatic about it and thus allowing "backwards compatibility", I'd say 100 characters is the right width.

Answer 5

When you have a sequence of statements that repeat with minor variations it can be easier to see the similarities and differences if the they are grouped into lines so that the differences align vertically.

I'd argue that the following is much more readable than it would have been if I'd split it over multiple lines:

switch(Type) {
case External_BL:   mpstrd["X"] = ptDig1.x - RadialClrX;    mpstrd["Y"] = ptDig1.y - RadialClrY;    break;
case External_BR:   mpstrd["X"] = ptDig1.x + RadialClrX;    mpstrd["Y"] = ptDig1.y - RadialClrY;    break;
case External_TR:   mpstrd["X"] = ptDig1.x + RadialClrX;    mpstrd["Y"] = ptDig1.y + RadialClrY;    break;
case External_TL:   mpstrd["X"] = ptDig1.x - RadialClrX;    mpstrd["Y"] = ptDig1.y + RadialClrY;    break;
case Internal_BL:   mpstrd["X"] = ptDig1.x + RadialClrX;    mpstrd["Y"] = ptDig1.y + RadialClrY;    break;
case Internal_BR:   mpstrd["X"] = ptDig1.x - RadialClrX;    mpstrd["Y"] = ptDig1.y + RadialClrY;    break;
case Internal_TR:   mpstrd["X"] = ptDig1.x - RadialClrX;    mpstrd["Y"] = ptDig1.y - RadialClrY;    break;
case Internal_TL:   mpstrd["X"] = ptDig1.x + RadialClrX;    mpstrd["Y"] = ptDig1.y - RadialClrY;    break;
}

Update: In the comment's it's been suggested that this would be a more succinct way of doing the above:

switch(Type) {
  case External_BL: dxDir = - 1; dyDir = - 1; break;
  case External_BR: dxDir = + 1; dyDir = - 1; break;
  case External_TR: dxDir = + 1; dyDir = + 1; break;
  case External_TL: dxDir = - 1; dyDir = + 1; break;
  case Internal_BL: dxDir = + 1; dyDir = + 1; break;
  case Internal_BR: dxDir = - 1; dyDir = + 1; break;
  case Internal_TR: dxDir = - 1; dyDir = - 1; break;
  case Internal_TL: dxDir = + 1; dyDir = - 1; break;
}
mpstrd["X"] = pt1.x + dxDir * RadialClrX;
mpstrd["Y"] = pt1.y + dyDir * RadialClrY; 

although it now fits in 80 columns I think my point still stands and I just picked a bad example. It does still demonstrate that placing multiple statements on a line can improve readability.

Answer 6

As others have said, I think it's best for (1) printing and (2) displaying multiple files side by side vertically.