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  1. Path: sparky!uunet!usc!wupost!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ames!data.nas.nasa.gov!taligent!apple!mumbo.apple.com!gallant.apple.com!badenov.apple.com!user
  2. From: nevin@apple.com (Nevin ":-]" Liber)
  3. Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
  4. Subject: Re: Indentation
  5. Message-ID: <nevin-150992151056@badenov.apple.com>
  6. Date: 15 Sep 92 22:18:58 GMT
  7. References: <1992Aug23.215627.22233@smds.com> <1992Aug16.045245.9912@smds.com> <7050@charon.cwi.nl> <1992Aug18.065110.20337@smds.com> <id.Q0KS.MS1@ferranti.com> <1992Aug27.201810.20982@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>
  8. Sender: news@gallant.apple.com
  9. Followup-To: comp.lang.misc
  10. Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
  11. Lines: 28
  12.  
  13. In article <1992Aug27.201810.20982@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>,
  14. ah739@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Leslie J. Somos) wrote:
  15. > OK, I believe most people would agree that choices in program layout are
  16. > just fluff, unimportant (in languages that don't care).
  17.  
  18. I disagree.  How many times have people been bitten by the following bug,
  19. hidden by bad layout:
  20.  
  21.     returnCode = kNoError;
  22.     foo = DoSomeProcessing();
  23.      if (NULL == foo)
  24.         fprintf(stderr, "foo ought not be NULL.\n");
  25.         returnCode = kError;
  26.     DoSomeMoreProcessing();
  27.     return returnCode;
  28.  
  29. > STOP RIGHT THERE.  I, for one, will not agree that choice of variable
  30. > names is not important.  Of course, the compiler doesn't care, about
  31. > names or layout, that's why obfuscating programs work.
  32. > But variable names are _very_ important to humans who must read
  33. > programs.
  34.  
  35. And so is layout.
  36. ___
  37. NEVIN ":-)" LIBER, RISC Porting Specialist/Blue Meanie, Mac System Software
  38.  email:     nevin@apple.com        paper:  Apple Computer, Inc.
  39.  voice:     (408) 974-MIX1                 20525 Mariani Avenue, MS: 81-GC
  40.  AppleLink: BADENOV                        Cupertino, CA 95014
  41.