Enforcing formatting
Professional developers usually follow rules. It’s said that senior developers know when to break them because they can justify the need. On the flip side, very senior developers often avoid breaking rules to save time explaining their choices. The key is to focus on issues that genuinely affect a product, rather than getting caught up in minor details.
When it comes to coding style and formatting, developers face many options: should we use tabs or spaces for indentation? If spaces, how many? What should be the character limit in a column or a file? These choices typically don’t change the program’s behavior but can trigger lengthy discussions that add little value.
Common practices do exist, but debates often center on personal preference and anecdotal evidence. For instance, choosing 80 characters per column over 120 is arbitrary. What matters is maintaining a consistent style, as inconsistency can hinder the code’s readability...
