Disclaimer: This talk has nothing to do with JavaScript but is pretty mad science which is why I am still submitting it.
The readability argument has always frustrated me. It manifests as a subjective observation stated as an objective fact. In a lot of cases, it is more habitual/cultural than anything scientific.
Out of this frustration, I began to establish my own theories by pulling in concepts from design.
In this talk, I will outline two experiments and one theory:
Vertical rhythm
Vertical rhythm establishes a consistent sizing of and spacing between elements. This brings up a recognizable/repeatable feel to the code.
The absolute 80 character limit was introduced due to screen limitations. However, there is something similar in typography which is the ideal amount of characters per line.
I have been experimenting with relative line lengths, the amount of characters from the first non-whitespace character to the EOL.
Disclaimer: This talk has nothing to do with JavaScript but is pretty mad science which is why I am still submitting it.
The readability argument has always frustrated me. It manifests as a subjective observation stated as an objective fact. In a lot of cases, it is more habitual/cultural than anything scientific.
Out of this frustration, I began to establish my own theories by pulling in concepts from design.
In this talk, I will outline two experiments and one theory:
Vertical rhythm
Vertical rhythm establishes a consistent sizing of and spacing between elements. This brings up a recognizable/repeatable feel to the code.
Article: http://twolfson.com/2013-05-27-bringing-vertical-rhythm-to-code
Line length
The absolute 80 character limit was introduced due to screen limitations. However, there is something similar in typography which is the ideal amount of characters per line.
I have been experimenting with relative line lengths, the amount of characters from the first non-whitespace character to the EOL.
Articles:
http://twolfson.com/2013-09-08-optimal-line-length-theory
http://twolfson.com/2013-11-26-optimal-lines-again
Objective readability
I am theorizing that if a pattern is repeated within code, it can be recognized at a faster rate which improves readability.
Article: http://twolfson.com/2013-08-15-readability:-formalized