RE: Boxes for Code: Summary

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

Janice G. said:
> I got ten responses, and only two people said they 
> are still using boxes around code examples, and 
> that using a monospace font (generally Courier, 
> which we also use), especially combined with an 
> indent, was enough. Most people said that use of 
> boxes was old fashioned.

Dang.

I still haven't landed on a method I like.

I use boxes for command-line interactions. We still 
have tools that use character-based menus... not 
much GUI happening yet... mostly in-house tools, 
slightly fixed-up for our toolkit customers to use.

I use Courier 9pt among 11-point body text, for 
code examples.

Problem is, most programmers see code in programmer's 
editors, spread wider than my margins can handle. 
So, that's how they write it, too.  Their editors 
usually have default tab settings that just won't 
fit on my printed pages.
I don't like to go really tiny on the Courier, to 
make the samples fit.  Sometimes I re-format, chop 
spaces out of tabs, etc.,  but that's very tedious 
and often doesn't work.  I'll have a three-page 
code sample and set it up so that all the lines fit 
without inappropriate wrapping... and then, on the 
third page I'll discover the programmer used an 
extra-long variable-name that blows my careful scheme 
out of the water.

I literally cannot remember even a two-line sample 
from the past two years that could fit in my 3-3/4 inch 
text area WITH an additional indent.  I guess other 
folks must use wide pages if they can consistently use 
an indent from the body-text margin as one of the 
formatting signals for code-sample text.

When wrapping is unavoidable, what do you folks use 
as your standard for how a line of code should break? 
After the break, how far do you indent?  The programmer 
uses an editor that auto-indents depending on which 
field (and maybe what type of structure) he was in, 
and has rules about how a line of code is permitted to 
break.   Certainly nesting can use up a lot of page 
real-estate in a hurry. 
I seem to be constantly battling to reconcile 
space considerations with readablity.  My page layout 
-- which works fine in other respects -- is usually a 
right-hand main-text column with a left-hand side-head 
area.  Too often, I give in and let a code sample 
spread from margin to margin (i.e., not respecting the 
column/side-head layout), and that's when a box of 
some sort becomes attractive.

I've looked at commercial work, and the samples often 
seem to be suspiciously ... well... sanitized for 
presentation on a printed page.  Hardly anybody uses 
a statement with eight or ten arguments, stretching 
clear across the screen... twice. Usually, other 
people's samples seem to fit neatly on a page, with 
lots of lovely white-space all round. Looks nice, though.  :-)

/kevin