Standards (was Re: indentation: enough already!)

[Doug Gwyn]

In article <253 at athertn.Atherton.COM> paul at athertn.Atherton.COM (Paul Sander) writes:
>So it would seem that for many of us (especially those who work for
>government contractors), coding standards are there and will not go away.

I've read quite a few DoD coding standards, data format standards,
program documentation requirements, etc.  They're generally pretty
horrible, requiring products that I personally would consider
inexcusably poor workmanship!

As with most government regulations, the root problem stems from
the attempt to achieve a desirable goal by micro-specifying the
details, rather than requiring that the goal be met.  As with all
forms of micro-management, it interferes with productivity.