posts: add tabs vs spaces post

content/posts/2022-06-29-the-only-true-answer-to-tabs-vs-spaces.md

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+---
+title: The only true answer to 'tabs vs spaces'
+date: "2022-06-29"
+tags: "note, guide, 100DaysToOffload, programming, practices"
+---
+
+I recently dove into a new project at work. We're starting from a blank page,
+so of course this classic question came up:
+
+> "So should we use tabs or spaces for our formatting?"
+
+One of my teammates explained to us why the only logical answer to this is
+"Tabs", and you'll soon know why.
+
+## The problem
+
+Most formatters, by default, use either two or four spaces for indentation by
+default. The [Prettier](https://prettier.io/) formatter does this, and it
+somewhat became the norm for JavaScript projects. This has one huge downside
+though: everyone on the team has to agree, or live with this standard.
+
+Nowadays, almost all editors come with the ability to change the preferred
+indentation settings, which will be overridden by the settings of the
+formatter. I prefer an indentation of 4 spaces, which is reflected in all of my
+code. If I'm working on a project that uses an indentation of 2 spaces via
+prettier, my preference will be overridden when formatting the code.
+
+## Just use tabs
+
+The solution to this problem is simple: Create a `.editorconfig` file and set
+the indentation style to tab, without a width:
+
+```editorconfig
+root = true
+
+[*]
+end_of_line = lf
+charset = utf-8
+indent_style = tab
+```
+
+Almost all editors will be able to pick this file up and configure some
+project-wide settings. If your editor is configured to use a indent width of 4,
+this setting will be respected. If you're a maniac that indents their code with
+8 spaces, you'll be pleased to see that you can finally use this style in your
+code, without forcing anyone else to do as you do.
+
+Even GitHub, GitLab and friends are able to respect this setting, giving
+everyone the opportunity to view code in their preferred style.
+
+I hope you now know why using a single tab of indendation makes the most sense if
+you're working in a team. Let me know your thoughts!
+
+This is post 035 of [#100DaysToOffload](https://100daystooffload.com/).
+