War of the braces
March 2, 2005
Programmers care about where the braces are put. Deeply. The main reason for that is familiarity - the code looks weird if you do it in a different style
I’m not here to argue for one way or the other. I’ve done it both ways and you know what? It doesn’t matter. After a few weeks your eye has grown accustomed to the new style. The braces are not important - the importance lies in the indentation. Here is an example:
class Test
{
public int zahl = 0;
public String s = 1;public void do()
{
for(int i=0; i < 10; i++)
{
for (int x=0; x < 10; x++)
{
if (zahl < 20)
{
zahl += x;
}
else
{
zahl += i;
}
}
}
}
}
This is just as hard to read as:
class Test
{
public int zahl = 0;
public String s = 1;public void do()
{
for(int i=0; i < 10; i++) {
for (int x=0; x < 10; x++) {
if (zahl < 20) {
zahl += x;
}
else {
zahl += i;
}
}
}
}
}
On the other hand, if you cut all the braces and put in indentation the code is a lot clearer:
class Test public int zahl = 0;
public String s = 1;
public void do()
for(int i=0; i < 10; i++)
for (int x=0; x < 10; x++)
if (zahl < 20)
zahl += x;
else
zahl += i;
So what I’m saying is: Don’t worry about where to put the braces. Just do whatever the rest of the team does - it’ll work out fine. If your team can’t find a concensus, play poker or something - the winner gets to decide.