Perl Best Practices

Chapter 2. Code Layout

Most people's […] programs should be indented six feet downward and covered with dirt

—Blair P. Houghton

Formatting. Indentation. Style. Code layout. Whatever you choose to call it, it's one of the most contentious aspects of programming discipline. More and bloodier wars have been fought over code layout than over just about any other aspect of coding.

So what is the best practice here? Should you use classic Kernighan & Ritchie (K&R) style? Or go with BSD code formatting? Or adopt the layout scheme specified by the GNU project? Or conform to the Slashcode coding guidelines?

Of course not! Everyone knows that [insert your personal coding style here] is the One True Layout Style, the only sane choice, as ordained by [insert your favorite Programming Deity here] since Time Immemorial! Any other choice is manifestly absurd, willfully heretical, and self-evidently a Work of Darkness!!!

And that's precisely the problem. When deciding on a layout style, it's hard to decide where rational choices end and rationalized habits begin.

Adopting a coherently designed approach to code layout, and then applying that approach consistently across all your coding, is fundamental to best practice programming. Good layout can improve the readability of a program, help detect errors within it, and make the structure of your code much easier to comprehend. Layout matters.

But most coding styles—including the four mentioned earlier—confer those benefits almost equally well. So while it's ...