How do you do your braces {} ?

[Spud1]

Ok, bit of a geeky poll here...as a result of some annoying programmers out there who insist on formatting their code in a certain way that makes it almost unreadable.

So I was wondering if its just me that can't stand people who don't format their code 'properly' (as i see it ) or if i'm in the minority, and really need to adjust to this different way of doing things.

Up until now I will have confused you, so heres what I mean.

My (and I think the correct, logical) way of doing things:

public bool myMethod
{
    String strExample;
    .... etc
}

or the (in my view) retarded way [edit: I know its not retarded, and there are historical reasons for this method..i was just a bit stressed in my original post ]

public bool myMethod {
  String strExample;
  .... etc
}

Is it just me? or do others also get frustrated at this? If you are always working with a decent IDE or with simple methods/classes/control structures its not really a problem, but if you are occasionally forced to use something like JBuilder, or end up with textpad/notepad (ie something that doesnt highlight start/end bracers well) it can be a nightmare to see where something starts and ends.

With my formatting of bracers its always clear which bracer matches which, as they are always lined up together..it makes your code much cleaner to read, and looks nicer..obviously there are exceptions eg single line if statements where ommiting the brackets entirely is cleaner..but for large methods etc I find it REALLY annoying.

Posted this as i'm sitting here going through a lecturers code and 'corrrecting' it to make sense..so whats your opinoin?

[arbitor]

i liek your way,in editing a load of scripts on my game server last night i cam across the second way took me a few mins to figure out what wernt with what.

[stytagm]

Personally I like your way, and it is pretty much the norm these days, but some of the older coders in our company layout their code with the Opening brace on the same line as the declaration.

There is an argument that having the Opening brace on it's own line is redundant and unnecessary, as the closing Brace is in-line with the Function declaration already, there is no need to have a second line with the Opening brace on it, also lining up. It's just wasted space.

If I remember correctly, The guy who wrote Code Complete is one person who argues for the "old way" (with the Opening brace on the same line as the declaration).

So it comes down to personal preference. It doesn't bother me because something like Resharper can reformat the code instantly, and also sorts out any indentation issues at the same time.

[aidanjt]

I personally prefer:

type decl-name() {
}

Not sure why, it just seems tidier to me, plus fiddling around with python you're pretty much forced to use this syntax style.

[Funkstar]

it's a long time since i needed to do this, but i always prefered the supposedly retarded way. It means you get more lines on screen at the same time

[dave87]

The retarded line does make sense sometimes, though if I look at code, I find it easier to read Spud's way...

[Metier9]

When i used to code it was the non-retarded way and then i started doing the retarded way as after a while it was easier to read .

[Kezzer]

Your way is correct and that's how I standardise my code and anyone who's stuck code in our repository. It's better as it's easier to read and generally see what's going on where.

[TheAnimus]

what about the i have an IDE with add-ins that do all that silly formatting work for me?

Not too mention nicely drawing pollygons around the braces/brackets in scope so its always very clear.

[manwithnoname]

I find 'my code' the easiest to read , my brackets are formatted in the 'non-retarded' way.

I don't use an IDE, not from choice, but I imagine if you use them either is just as readable - assuming pretty colours for comments and keywords etc. But spare a thought for the poor sod who has to use some arcane 2 tone text editor to look at some code please...

When i used to code it was the non-retarded way and then i started doing the retarded way as after a while it was easier to read .

Out of interest do use a colourful IDE?

[directhex]

type decl-name( type param1, type param2 )
{
    if( variable == value )
    {
        do;
        lots;
        of;
        things
    }
}

[Steve B]

yep hexxy has it the way i do it, only he forgot his semi-colon after things

[malfunction]

Can't believe this still comes up. Personally I prefer the opening brace to be on the same line as the declaration / statement And it depends on which language (and possibly complier) hex is simulating on whether or not the last semi-colon is required or 'implied'. Oh and the last place I worked at where had a say in coding standards the rule around this was:

Do it whichever way you want but if you're editing someone else's code keep them the same or convert the whole bloody thing

I also write if statements the long way even when I only have one line of code associated with the if statement:

if (something == true) {
   doSomething();
}

And not this evil way:

if (something == true)
   doSomething();

[my new pc is a]

if (condition) {
    line of code;
    line of code; 
} 

I fail to see how it's retarded at all. You can still see that it lines up perfectly. Plus you get more code on your screen.

I think the actual point is why you'd ever want bracers to matchup? I want the start of the indentation if and the end of the indentation } to match up.

I guess this way makes more sense in languages (such as perl) which you can't have an if without a block following it.

[Steve B]

if you're nesting if's it becomes much easier to debug if theres braces missing. braces should always line up imo

[awm]

I write my code like this:

type function() {
    if (someVar) {
        doSomething();
    }
}

It'll sound kind of weird, but having the extra line return bothers me, but so does not having braces on a 1 line if statement. I guess it's all personal preference.