Whilst I do agree with you on that specific example, it’s worth noting that code standards as a whole are a somewhat blurry line that can be extremely subjective at times.

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moron4hire an hour ago | parent [-]

I actually don't think it's worth noting. I think, if a particular code standard issue is really of value, it will be obvious. You will propose it and nobody will argue. I think the fact that code standards are contentious is proof they are extremely low value. Subtle effects are indistinguishable from superstition.

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rpdillon an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I think the particular choice of coding standards is low value, but I think the consistency they bring has a lot of value, at least potentially.

As a father of two boys myself, I know exactly where you're coming from. Like some adults, they'll argue over pointless details and miss the entire thrust of the discussion.

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moron4hire 38 minutes ago | parent [-]

No, to repeat what I said, I think "consistency" to a programmer is like "fairness" to a child: it's not what you think it is and it probably doesn't apply to whatever situation it's being invoked.

	▲	rpdillon 28 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Oh, interesting. > No, to repeat what I said, I think "consistency" to a programmer is like "fairness" to a child I tend to pride myself on my ability to read and comprehend things, and I feel like I never saw you say this. I see now it was an edit to an earlier comment that I didn't catch the meaning of. It seems to say that you think consistency is childish, maybe because it's a naive ideal of some kind? I value it highly, so your perspective is interesting (in the vein of "Symmetry is a complexity-reducing concept. Seek it everywhere.") That aside, you're advocating for projects that have wildly different coding styles from file to file and function to function? I guess I've never really worked on a project like that. I can imagine it would feel very messy and would make manual refactors difficult but might not be such a problem for AI?
	▲	rpdillon 30 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Oh, interesting. So you're advocating for projects that have wildly different styles encoding from file to file? I guess I've never really worked on a project like that. I can imagine it would feel very messy and would make manual refactors difficult but might not be such a problem for AI?

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hnlmorg an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

I think you’re underestimating how opinionated developers are.

The fact that we are disagreeing on this point is great evidence that there isn’t an easy to define, proverbial line in the sand.

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moron4hire 41 minutes ago | parent [-]

I know very well how opinionated other developers are. I'm explicitly saying it's a waste of energy to be that picky about code style.

There is an easy to define line: there is no line. It's not a boundary where "over here is good code" and "over there, not" we just don't have a good idea of where the line is. No. There is absolutely no line.

	▲	hnlmorg 22 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> I know very well how opinionated other developers are. I'm explicitly saying it's a waste of energy to be that picky about code style. To be honest, I completely agree with you. The point I make is that not everyone would. And that disagreement alone results in a blurry line as to what some would consider important and what others would not. But personally, I honestly do wish more people had the same opinion as you.