TABS in the CPython C source code
tjreedy at udel.edu
Sun Feb 7 19:20:25 CET 2010
On 2/7/2010 7:39 AM, Steve Holden wrote:
> Clearly written by someone who has never *used* a mechanical typewriter.
> The original mechanisms had "tab set" and "tab clear" keys, so you had
> variable tabbing according to the needs of the particular document you
> were working on. Look under "T" in
> if you aren't old enough to have used one.
I did start with real typewriters. The 'standard', if anything, was 1/2"
for paragraph indents. That was 5 chars with normal 10 cpi type, 6 with
12 cpi 'elite' type. I used both. I always thought the 8 char unix
indent to be excessive. If a power of 2 was needed, rounding 5 down to 4
would have been more sensible.
Wordperfect, which I wrote a couple of books with, followed the
typewriter model in defaulting tab stops to every 1/2 inch, regardless
of font. Sensible software tab defaults were not pioneered by Microsoft.
Terry Jan Reedy
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