Do you number your begin/end blocks?

[marcov]

I don't number them, even if I thought it would be useful, when coming back to code you would have to check if the numbering is still correct.

I use the other ways proposed in this thread; Indentation, early exits and in general not making procedures too long.

[creaothceann]

Speaking of indentation, why not 8-char tabs?

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. if this then begin
2.         if otherthing then begin
3.                 if anotherthing then begin
4.                         //...
5.                 end;
6.         end else begin
7.                 //...
8.         end;
9. end;

[Thaddy]

NEVER use real tabs (#9) for whitespace in sourcecode. It kills the code in other editors all to easily.

[creaothceann]

How so?

[Thaddy]

Try to work with different editors: gets expanded in all kind of different formatting.
Usually - if the editor has such an option - replace #9 with spaces. You can still use tab, but the formatting stays.

[TBMan]

Python wouldn't even compile if the indentation is not correct...

I was interested in learning Python. I downloaded some things to get started and when I ran into that I was put off by it.
It didn't make any sense to me. Different operators and different syntax, fine, but indentation rules?
Maybe I will try it someday regardless.

[440bx]

Different operators and different syntax, fine, but indentation rules?

I know what you mean.

That said, formatting rules are nothing new.  FORTRAN, COBOL, RPG and other languages had some formatting rules the programmer had to adhere to in order to produce something that would compile.

Once a programmer gets used to a free-form programming language, formatting rules feel like an unnecessary straitjacket.  I find relying on indentation a rather hokey thing but, that's the python way.

[Thaddy]

In Python it is an essential part of the language. Indent wrong, not working. I like that a lot, maybe because I - almost always - follow an indentation rule of two spaces per block.

[suve]

Since Pascal is case-insensitive, I tend to use Begin-End for procedure/function blocks and begin-end for inner blocks.
Plus indentation, obviously. (ASCII TAB gang here.)

[creaothceann]

Try to work with different editors: gets expanded in all kind of different formatting.

Yeah, but that wouldn't be a problem for my code. I only use tabs before the first non-whitespace character; aligning comments etc. only via spaces.

[TBMan]

In Python it is an essential part of the language. Indent wrong, not working. I like that a lot, maybe because I - almost always - follow an indentation rule of two spaces per block.

I bet once someone gets used to doing that it becomes second nature and the code is easier to read.

[Kraig]

I use indentation and if necessary comments for begin ends

[Warfley]

This gets me out of a lot of trouble.

The problem with this is that if you insert a single block you might need to rename a bunch of other blocks. If you just need to fix something in a hurry, you may overlook something and then your numbering is broken.

And if you rely on that numbering, broken numbering can be worse than no numbering.
This btw holds for any comments, not updated comments and documentation is a major source of bugs in large scale projects that involve multiple developers

[dbannon]

I use code tools for that. I checked outline and gave the lines a light blue color. Now all I have to do is follow the line down at an if.

Wow, I did not know about that. !  While I usually rely on indentation, I sure am going to give outline a try !
Thank Hansvb
Davo

[Martin_fr]

If your blocks have begin/end, then "Find other end of code block" (from the search menu). Or assign it to a key.

And you can also have the editor highlight the end for the current (at cursor) begin (or vice versa) => options > editor > markup > word brackets.

The outline can also have different colors for different levels, making it easier to trace. Even include coloring the if then begin according to its level.