Coding standards and line length [closed]

Answer 1

Door number 3. If you can't do it on one line, do it on one line per item, anything else obfuscates the items after the first on the line and is horrible to read. Consistent indentation matters too.

Fwiw, I think this is old hat in a day and age where most programmers should have dual monitors at a high resolution. The first example looks like it could be one line quite happily.

Answer 2

My personal preference is the following;

$Stmt->bind_result(
    $this->_firstName,
    $this->_lastName,
    $this->_BillToAddress->address1,
    $this->_BillToAddress->address2,
    $this->_BillToAddress->city,
    $this->_BillToAddress->state,
    $this->_BillToAddress->zip,
    $this->_BillToAddress->country,
    $this->_email,
    $this->_status,
    $this->_primaryPhone,
    $this->_mobilePhone 
);

That way the closing bracket and semi-colon are on the same indent as the opening call. Not all languages support having parameters on another line to the method call though...

Answer 3

Context dictates which one you pick. Ultimately you're writing code to be read by a human being. If indenting a block of code differently would make it easier to read then do it.

Answer 4

I don't mind option 3 too much (1 item per line). Also, personally, I always use wordwrapping, so having code on one line doesn't bother me at all. However, in your second example, with wordwrapping on, that could look like a mess to programmers who do use wordwrapping. Perhaps I am of a smaller group who don't mind long lines.

Answer 5

There is a pattern you can see in each example - they are indented to the first parameter of the function. This is a good standard to follow as it transposes the data from horizontal to vertical and the columns allow easy reading.

For other line length issues, such as lengthy computations, the preferred method is to break it down. Calculating the julian date, or easter is done in several steps instead of one long calculation.

Answer 6

An unusual indentation style that I found myself easing into when doing a lot of SQL work was;

INSERT INTO someTable
(
    id,
    name,
    age,
    address1,
    address2,
)
VALUES
(
    2,
    'Bob'
    25,
    '12 Fake Street',
    'The Moon'
)

I actually find it much easier to read than any other layout for long parameter lists.