Re: Lua Code Formatting Guidelines

[Philippe Lhoste <PhiLho@...>]

On 27/09/2010 12:14, Jon Akhtar wrote:
> I know that a lot of code formatting is a matter of personal taste, however, I
> am developing a code formatter for Lua, and I am in need of a "default" format
> to support "out of the box".

Tongue in cheek suggestion: take the Lua code written by Roberto and Luiz (or just the 
samples given in Programming in Lua) and use that as default style guide.

> There are a lot of nuances to code formatting, and I'd like to cover as many as
> possible.

Indeed. Somehow, Eclipse is doing a decent job there, offering an impressive set of 
options fitting probably 90% of the needs (except the most exotics).

> for example spacing:
>
> local a = {1,2,3}  vs  local a = {1, 2, 3}  vs. local a={1,2,3}

I would do: local a = { 1, 2, 3 }
:-)

> indentation:
>
> local f = function()
>      return
> end

I add a space there: local f = function ()
because I write the alternative: function f()
although, IIRC, R & L write: function f ()
to distinguish function declaration from function call (f() -- no space).

> local f = function()
>                return
>            end

Ugly! Excessive indentation is, IMHO, a bad idea.

> I'd like to get a discussion going on this topic.

Above shows that possibilities are endless (well, you guessed it!), and nobody is right 
(but some are wrong, eg. when forgetting they have a space key! ;-))
Well, such discussion is a bit of a Pandora box...

> Incidentally, if you would like to try my code formatter its built into my
> plugin for IntelliJ. Right now its still in development, but using it may aid in
> the discussion.

Stupid question: I suppose a standalone version (even if it needs a JRE) is not possible? 
Installing a 100MB IDE to test your plugin is a bit overkill (even if as a Java programmer 
I would like to test IntelliJ, the free version, some day).

--
Philippe Lhoste
--  (near) Paris -- France
--  http://Phi.Lho.free.fr
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