Elastic tabstop

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An elastic tab stop is an alternative way to handle tabstops in text editors, with a primary focus on text editors used to edit source code. The idea was first proposed by Nick Gravgaard as a solution for programmers who argue about what kind of indentation is best; tabs or spaces.

The elastic tabstop differs from normal tabs, as it is interpreted almost like a table structure. Text that is indented on the same tabstop will expand that tabstop as the width of the text grows. All text on the next tabstop will then move dynamically, over multiple lines.

This method has some strengths over the older methods of code indentation, as it saves time for the programmer when he or she arranges the code. On the other hand, this approach can make the code look unorganized on editors that do not support this feature.

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