Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I never get the fussing with aligning. I get the importance of clean indenting, but so much SQL I see looks like the writer spent a long time tweaking the alignment with spaces to make sure the data types lined up perfectly or the ON clauses or what have you.... And then had do do it all over again the moment they changed something.

Just indent when scope changes, and don't align things. Alignment is a time-sink.



I always think of the DB, as the last castle of a program. When everything else fails, the DB should function. Programs are maintained way more than they're written.

No matter how hard I try to keep my code-base clean, it gets cluttered.

That's why I strive to create a powerful base structure and make them bulletproof.

Whatever may come (depression, personal problems, fatigue, stress, deadlines, etc.) this skeleton keeps the app alive.

In my experience code that is written now, will stay and that complete rewrite I've been dreaming about will never happen :D.

So IMHO it's better to design the core funcionality exhaustively and try to create a failproof code-base.

My intellectual capacity fluctuates and I'm never as productive as I want to be. I need a safety rope for my dumber version, who has forgotten about the code and has no idea where to start :)

Indenting, and aligning helps a lot, when I try to load the code back into my memory.


"I need a safety rope for my dumber version"

I like this. 14:00 Numberwang appreciates the effort.


Or use a code formatter?




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact