[cfe-dev] clang-format leading whitespace

[Samuel Williams via cfe-dev]

If you look to an earlier email:

> I want to point out that preserving leading whitespace on whitespace-only
lines is Xcode default setting. And as the result many projects can end up
using this style. For example, a quick check of the top 5 Objective-C
repositories with the most stars on GitHub
<https://github.com/search?l=objective-c&o=desc&q=stars:%3E1&s=stars&type=Repositories>
shows
that 3 out of 5 are using predominantly this style
(rs/SDWebImage, BradLarson/GPUImage, SnapKit/Masonry). It isn’t
representative in any way, I just want to show that such style isn’t that
obscure.


On 27 January 2018 at 00:21, Manuel Klimek <klimek at google.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 10:06 AM Samuel Williams via cfe-dev <
> cfe-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
>
>> ## Some objective problems:
>>>>
>>>> - Existing code which is indented this way would require a lot of
>>>> changes.
>>>>
>>>
>>> That's true for any project starting to use clang-format. That's why
>>> we'd suggest to use editor and version control system integrations and only
>>> format the lines that are touched.
>>>
>>
>> I'm not really sure the workflow you describe really makes sense.
>>
>> I'd prefer to apply it to the whole project in one shot and then keep it
>> formatted that way using pre-commit hooks or something like that.
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> - Markdown (which is useful in comments) is sensitive to trailing
>>>> whitespace.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I haven't seen a project using markdown in comments and relying on the
>>> trailing whitespace. However, even if some do, I think it'd be better for
>>> clang-format to recognize this and not remove spaces for those comments
>>> specifically.
>>>
>>
>> clang-format simply can't know that the comments contain markdown or not,
>> so what you propose is impossible. One option would be to not reformat
>> comments.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> It's possible to add a post process script to normalise leading
>>>> whitespace but not trailing whitespace (e.g. in the case of markdown).
>>>>
>>>> ## Some subjective problems:
>>>>
>>>> - It's my preference when I start editing on a line, the indentation is
>>>> correct already.
>>>>
>>>
>>> How often do you even start editing in a currently empty line? Don't you
>>> normally start with some existing code and have to insert a line break?
>>> clang-format wouldn't help there..
>>>
>>
>> I start editing on empty lines all the time.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> (It's also a really easy habit to loose once you have gotten yourself to
>>> rely on clang-format working in your editor).
>>>
>>>
>>>> - When moving cursor up and down it's my preference that it doesn't
>>>> jump back and forward when crossing blank lines.
>>>>
>>>
>>> But the proposal wouldn't really change much here, unless you happen to
>>> have the cursor right at the start of the line and it would all be indented
>>> the exact same level. Isn't that a really rare case?
>>>
>>
>> It's not a rare case at all if you have lots of empty lines.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Some of these issues can be fixed by editor configuration/plugins, but
>>>> it's still not 100% correct.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for your time.
>>>>
>>>> Kind regards,
>>>> Samuel
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> cfe-dev mailing list
>>>> cfe-dev at lists.llvm.org
>>>> http://lists.llvm.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/cfe-dev
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>> I still think this is a good idea. and the fact that many top projects
>> prefer this style is a good indication that it would be a useful addition,
>> IMHO.
>>
>
> Do you have links to example projects? Do those projects have public style
> guides?
>
>
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Samuel
>> _______________________________________________
>> cfe-dev mailing list
>> cfe-dev at lists.llvm.org
>> http://lists.llvm.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/cfe-dev
>>
>
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