Is 78 characters still a good option? Was: [Haskell-cafe] breaking too long lines

[Jason Dusek]

2009/04/25 Thomas Davie <tom.davie at gmail.com>:
> 2009/04/25 Jason Dusek:
>> There will always be some people who prefer longer lines. The
>> real issue is, how do we deal with the fundamental
>> disagreement here? It's not like we can have both. Also those
>> people who like long lines -- will they all agree to a long
>> line length?
>
> There are those who are driven by an archaic standard from the
> width of the terminal screen, and there are those who are
> driven by the aesthetics of their code.

  False dichotomy :) I am appalled on an aesthetic as well as
  practical level by lines that reach outside my terminal. It's
  not important, though -- that's something I've gotten used to;
  naturally if the standard had been 100 I would have gotten
  used to that. It's about following clear standards, not
  ignorance of the width of my screen.

> As always, opinions on aesthetics differ slightly, but
> overall, everyone seems to mostly agree...

  Eh? Since when did they mostly agree? The 200 column example
  we've seen brought out a lot of disagreement.

--
Jason Dusek