[GRLUG] Just for Bob

[Raymond McLaughlin]

Bob Kline wrote:
started doing
> with all my e-mails.  Newspaper
> columns are as narrow as they
> are so people can read them
> without moving their eyes. 

Moving up and down is motion just as much as back and forth is.

> Bottom line,  it's much faster
> than trying to follow a long line
> across a page.
> 

W
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Generally I prefer longer lines, depending on the situation. I have
encountered this "less movement" argument before and I'm frankly puzzled
by it. Not only is up to down just as much "motion" as left to right.
But I would argue that reading more, shorter, lines involves more, and
more complex, eye movement. To be specific: reading one long line, from
left to right, is a single fluid motion; reading several shorter lines
entails just as much left to right movement, PLUS there is the downward
and right to left movement, and in addition to that each "new line"
entails the mental effort of finding the beginning of the CORRECT line.

Granted, this last argument cuts both ways. The longer the line, the
more effort is required to find the beginning of the following line.
Conversely the shorter the lines, the more often the reader has to make
this effort. Invariably a compromise must be made, and where to make it
is, IMHO, both situational and subjective.

By situational, I mean both the content of the text, and where it is to
be displayed or printed. I think the reason newspaper columns are
printed the way they are has as much to do with over all page lay out:
such considerations as which and how many articles are "above the fold",
and other placement considerations, as to do with the simple readability
of the column.

When it comes to the command line I go to great lengths (pun accidental,
but I'll take it) to avoid line wrap. This applies to source code
generally, but especially command lines. Maybe it's my own limited
"attention span band width", but when I'm trying to mentally parse the
meaning of complicated code I find it distracting to have to "hold that
idea" while my attention is diverted to finding the line continuation.
Of course the notion of "phrasing" borrowed from music helps in this regard.

Subjective is of course subjective. I find general text reading to be
most comfortable at around 72-80 characters per line. And here I was
about to point out that the rfc standard for mail was 72. I was about to
be wrong :) I just double checked the Netiquette Guidelines in rfc1855
<http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html> and it says:

>     - Limit line length to fewer than 65 characters and end a line
>       with a carriage return.

I still prefer 72-80, but it's not much different.

Your narrow posts are well within the rfc,
b
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You are, of course, free to post as you like. I won't complain. But If
you want input on the subject I, for one, prefer lines around 65-80
character lines.

Raymond McLaughlin