Elastic tabstop

In text editor applications in computing, an elastic tabstop is an alternative way to handle tabstops, with a primary focus on editing source code in computer programming. The idea was first proposed by Nick Gravgaard as a solution for programmers who argue about what kind of indentation is best; tab or space characters. Joel Spolsky wrote a short note giving publicity to this idea.

The elastic tabstop differs from normal fixed tabstop interpretations, as it is interpreted almost like a table structure. Text that is indented on the same tabstop will expand that tabstop as the width of the text grows. All text on the next tab stop will then move dynamically, over multiple lines.

This method has some strengths over the older methods of code indentation, as it saves time for the programmer when he or she arranges the code and allows for proportional fonts in addition to the fixed-width fonts. On the other hand, this approach can make the code look unorganized on editors that do not have support for it, and it requires an indentation style which is interpreted correctly by this feature.

See also

* Tab stop for the general concept
* Tab key for the keyboard key and the ASCII character
* Indentation for the task
* Indentation style for the various styles

External links

* http://nickgravgaard.com/elastictabstops/ - Nick Gravgaard's article "Elastic tabstops - the solution to the tabs-versus-spaces issue"
* http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/03/1820235 - Slashdot article on the subject
* http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/07/03.html - Joel Spolsky's publicity link
* http://www.jwz.org/doc/tabs-vs-spaces.html - Jamie Zawinski's article "Tabs versus Spaces: An Eternal Holy War."