Is the TAB character bad in source code? [closed]

Question

I'm pretty familiar I guess with both Zend and PEAR PHP coding standards, and from my previous two employers no TAB characters were allowed in the code base, claiming it might be misinterpreted by the build script or something (something like that, I honestly can't remember the exact reason). We all set up our IDE's to explode TABs to 4 spaces.

I'm very used to this, but now my newest employer insists on using TABs and not spaces for indentation. I suppose I shouldn't really care since I can just tell PHP Storm to just use the TAB char when i hit the Tab key, but, I do. I want spaces and I'd like a valid argument for why spaces are better than TABs.

So, personal preferences aside, my question is, is there a legitimate reason to avoid using TABs in our code base?

Keep in mind this coding standard applies to PHP and JavaScript.

Answer 1

Tabs are better

• Clearer to reader what level each piece of code is on; spaces can be ambiguous, espcially when it's unclear whether you're using 2-space tabs or 4-space tabs
• Conceptually makes more sense. When you indent, you expect a tab and not spaces. The document should represent what you did on your keyboard, and not in-document settings.
• Tabs can't be confused with spaces in extended lines of code. Especially when word warp is enabled, there could be a space in a wrapped series of words. This could obviously confuse the readers. It would slow down paired programming.
• Tabs are a special character. When viewing of special characters is enabled on your IDE, levels can be more easily identified.

Note to all coders: you can easily switch between tabs and spaces using any of JetBrains' editors (ex. PHPStorm, RubyIDE, ReSharper, IntelliJIDEA, etc.) by simply pressing CTRL + ALT + L on Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Answer 2

is there a legitimate reason to avoid using TABs in our code base?

I have consulted at many a company and not once have I run into a codebase that didn't have some sort of mixture of tabs and spaces among various source files and not once has it been a problem.

Preferred? Sure.

Legitimate, as in accordance with established rules, principles, or standards? No.

Edit

All I really want to know is if there's nothing wrong with TABs, why would both Zend and PEAR specifically say they are not allowed?

Because it's their preference. A convention they wish to be followed to keep uniformity (along with things like naming and brace style). Nothing more.