From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Barry Margolin Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: Lisp code formatting.... Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2003 21:49:43 GMT Organization: Genuity Managed Services, Woburn, MA Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org X-Trace: main.gmane.org 1047077493 6624 80.91.224.249 (7 Mar 2003 22:51:33 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@main.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 7 Mar 2003 22:51:33 +0000 (UTC) Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Fri Mar 07 23:51:31 2003 Return-path: Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 18rQgd-0001iM-00 for ; Fri, 07 Mar 2003 23:51:31 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 18rQfj-0001pS-02 for gnu-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Fri, 07 Mar 2003 17:50:35 -0500 Original-Path: shelby.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!crtntx1-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!paloalto-snr1.gtei.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help Mail-Copies-To: never X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test72 (19 April 1999) Originator: barmar@genuity.net (Barry Margolin) Original-Lines: 35 Original-X-Trace: /bNDCwOyKbDY5FCO8qNLwAQ8oOWfSyNL4iw5eHsrRYbz/B4FK7z9VrmzOSgLw2aU9ejziamCbcF+!uOqhTRRXcxx1aEtUXf8leeFbamUrCfkbuHhHbPBYOtvNDpRyYvP8rBdfqYdJaoo32vtZ26EUnqGx!qktDZLkbAlscMg== Original-X-Complaints-To: abuse@gte.net X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2003 21:49:43 GMT Original-Distribution: world Original-Xref: shelby.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:110914 Original-To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b5 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Archive: List-Unsubscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:7415 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help:7415 In article , Sandip Chitale wrote: >I was reading through the emacs lisp manual and came across the >following paragraph: > > * Don't make a habit of putting close-parentheses on lines by > themselves; Lisp programmers find this disconcerting. > >Why do "Lisp programmers find this disconcerting" ? Do *all* Lisp >programmers find this disconcerting ? I don't. The majority of people with several decades of experience. We learned the standard programming style from each other, just like other idioms of the language. > Once in a while, when there is a sequence of many consecutive > close-parentheses, it may make sense to split the sequence in one > or two significant places. > >Isn't this arbitrary ? It does not sound like a standard. > >Can Emacs lisp gurus shed some light on this ? Since there are so many parentheses in Lisp code, devoting a line to each close paren wastes lots of space and clutters up the definition. Parentheses tend to be viewed as noise, so they shouldn't be emphasized so much. While the Lisp implementation cares about them quite a bit, programmers tend to depend on indentation to see the structure of the code. And editors like Emacs automate the indentation process. -- Barry Margolin, barry.margolin@level3.com Genuity Managed Services, Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group.