I have been wondering for a while now why is it that everybody is stuck with this typewriter/punchcard mentality and assumes that only a fixed-width (non-proportional) font could be used to display program code on a computer screen. Would it not be more appropriate, in this century, to realize that since indentation (and spacing in general) is essentially something that only pertains to the graphical representation of program's code, it should be left to the editor/viewer software (and its user) to set, given a single tab or space character, the number of pixels (or inches or any other unit of length) that should be used to represent the indentation or white space? This should have nothing to do with the width of a character, and therefore using modern proportional fonts should be just as convenient and natural as it is when using a word processor.
>> Would it not be more appropriate, in this century, to realize that since indentation (and spacing in general) is essentially something that only pertains to the graphical representation of program's code...
False assumption.
Suppose a language exists which:
1.) truncates all characters beyond the 80th prior to interpretation;
2.) will throw an exception during run-time if tab characters are used for indentation;
3.) strictly defines, in BNF, valid cases for the first 7 column-wise characters, of which 7 spaces is distinctly meaningful.
Although it may be "this century", I think I speak for more than a few who continue to maintain the corrected mistakes of our predecessors out of economic necessity...and I'm not talking about reaping a paycheck either.
I have been wondering for a while now why is it that everybody is stuck with this typewriter/punchcard mentality and assumes that only a fixed-width (non-proportional) font could be used to display program code on a computer screen. Would it not be more appropriate, in this century, to realize that since indentation (and spacing in general) is essentially something that only pertains to the graphical representation of program's code, it should be left to the editor/viewer software (and its user) to set, given a single tab or space character, the number of pixels (or inches or any other unit of length) that should be used to represent the indentation or white space? This should have nothing to do with the width of a character, and therefore using modern proportional fonts should be just as convenient and natural as it is when using a word processor.