Open the app
CoRecursive: Coding Stories

Chat: Why still 80 columns?

Jun 1, 2022 · 39 min · Episode 77 · 56.7 MB
0:00-39:23

Streams straight from the publisher. PodNod never proxies or re-hosts episode audio.

Open in PodNod
On June 1st, 2014, the following question showed up on hacker news:

"Why is 80 characters, the standard limit for code width."

You probably know what happens next. People started to post their opinions and the comments and other people started to disagree. The posts spread around the internet.

So that is going to be today's show: Let's answer this question.

It's a question about traditions and teamwork, and how preexisting idioms shape us and help us, but sometimes restrict us.