Re: "pretty Oracle SQL" utility

"Niall Litchfield" <n-litchfield_at_audit-commission.gov.uk> wrote in message news:<3ec0aa97$0$29715$ed9e5944_at_reading.news.pipex.net>...
> "Daniel Morgan" <damorgan_at_exxesolutions.com> wrote in message
> news:3EC026D6.CDAF87EE_at_exxesolutions.com...
> > The problem is one of appearance over substance. I am a firm believer in
> formatted code. Have been since I
> > first put keyboard to disk. That said formatters encourage sloppy
> practices with an expectation that the tool
> > will solve the problem. Good code requires structured thinking and the
> tool can't produce that.
>
> I don't buy the argument, though I do buy the idea that coding is a logical
> process.
>
> The current generation of word processors produce better formatted, more
> attractive documents than vi. I can't believe that anyone seriously
> considers that we should ditch Word for vi on the grounds that 'it
> encourages bad writing'. Simlarly modern IDEs and editors aid well

Ironically, I do feel that way about Word and vi, and I don't think I am alone in it. I think slashdot (or maybe somewhere else, like a newspaper article about computers in primary/secondary education...) had a thread about how grammar checking software encourages a lowest common denominator writing style, thereby limiting advanced reasoning in expository writing. Of course, autocorrecting and command-finishing software has always driven me nuts, since I wind up mentally noting the issue and starting to correct it at the same time the software is changing it, muddling my thoughts and the doc.

> formatted, clear and readable code generation. A better tool does not make a
> better programmer, but I have a hard time believing it makes a worse one.

Daniel, I think you have a valid point, but I think you may be mis-evaluating a distinction between learning to code properly with good habits, and simple formatting correction. Even v$sqlarea is finally ignoring whitespace... :-)

I guess it all depends on what the OP wants to do with it.

jg

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