An argument among developers that might rival the NULLs/No NULLs debate, or even the comma appending/prepending items in T-SQL might be tabs versus spaces. I was engaged in a debate recently with a developer on this very topic, with this person insisting that tabs were the proper way to handle indentation in code, and my insisting just as hard that spaces were the way to go.
Actually, I should clarify, I think that tabs should be inserted into code as spaces, so that a consistent layout can be maintained. Most tools allow for this, and while I have never worked in a place where the tab/space ratio was entirely consistent among all those writing code, I have found that using ASCII 32 is preferable to ASCII 9 when files are shared among different people.
Am I right? I don't know that I'm right, but I have found that spaces result in less issues, and easier to read code over time as more and more developers work on a project. Invariably spaces creep into code, and when they mix with tabs, the visual layout of the code can vary wildly, depending on the configuration of the developer. I understand that indents and alignment differ, and using a mix of tabs for indentation and spaces for alignment can work. I just feel that this is an additional level of conformity that will never work well for most team projects.
There are all sorts of arguments for tabs, for spaces, even for saving the planet. The one thing I know is true: the only programming project with no disagreement whatsoever on code formatting is the one you work on alone (from Coding Horror). I also love the concluding sentence in that post (since I agree with it).
With that in mind, I do think having a standard makes sense, and while the standard might annoy a portion of your developers, overall they will get used to it and be more productive than having no formatting standard at all.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.
- Watch the Windows Media Podcast - 19.7MB WMV
- Watch the iPod Video Podcast - 17.1MB MP4
- Watch the MP3 Audio Podcast - 3.5MB MP3
The podcast feeds are available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com. Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there. Overall RSS Feed: 
or now on iTunes! 
Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.
You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter:
