Is There Value In Code Uniformity?
There seem to be two opposing views of coding standards. Some think that they should enforce uniformity in code. Everyone should use K&R braces, leave two lines between functions, and have a space after the if and before the opening parenthesis. Others (like me) think that there is little value in uniform-looking code. The value of coding standards is in their ability to stop bugs from getting into the code. Patterns that are error-prone, like failing to create a new scope { } for the result of an if statement, should be banned. Others that are odd but not necessarily error-prone should not. I'm interested in hearing from you, my readers, on your experience here. Is there more value in having uniform code than I give it credit for? Does it really make reading code that much easier? Do bugs really stand out more or is it just format deviation that stands out?
2/20 - Ugh, my spam filter stopped every response to this. Unblocked now.