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Really? Reformatting will solve the "bracket should be on a new line" problem, anyway.


Promiscuous reformatting causes large, unreadable deltas for every commit to the version control system.


So keep it isolated in a separate branch? I do agree style wars are pointless.

Personally, while I can and sometimes do have to use the style mentioned in point #3 of the blog post, I curse under my breath every time. (It should be: "\n} else {\n"! Not "\n}\nelse\n{\n"!) Saving myself that frustration can be useful. But for a better example, I'll sometimes come across code indented inconsistently with spaces and tabs, and need to reformat with :retab and == in vim. Separating complex code into chunks makes it easier to parse for me, adding comments, etc. etc. etc. Remember, this is to understand the code, not necessarily to make a bugfix. If I'm going to muck with someone else's code, I'll usually follow their style even if it's not mine. But I might first solve it in mine.


Exactly why I consider it a Good Idea to make commits that are either style or substance, but not mix both.




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