Linesplitting

Linesplitting is the process of dividing a block of text into separate lines. In computing, it typically refers to two related behaviors: hard line splitting, where explicit line breaks are inserted into the text, and soft wrapping, where a text renderer automatically breaks lines to fit a display width without inserting characters.

Hard line breaks are encoded with line terminators such as LF (line feed, U+000A), CR (carriage return, U+000D), or CRLF (carriage return followed by line feed). Some systems also use other terminators, and multilingual text is governed by the Unicode line breaking rules (Unicode Standard Annex #14), which specify where breaks may occur and how lines may be split across scripts and languages.

Line-splitting techniques vary by goal. Simple greedy wrapping chooses the last break point before a given width, producing predictable but sometimes uneven lines. More sophisticated methods, such as the Knuth–Plass line breaking algorithm used in TeX, aim to minimize overall demerits by considering adjacent breaks, whitespace, hyphenation opportunities, and penalties for undesirable breaks. Hyphenation can improve line lengths and readability by allowing breaks within long words under controlled rules.

Contexts and implications. In word processing and typesetting, line splitting interacts with justification, spacing, and hyphenation to achieve aesthetically pleasing text layouts. In editors, soft wrap is a user preference that affects readability without altering the underlying content; hard wraps are important in source code and data formats where line breaks can affect syntax or parsing. In programming and terminal environments, line width constraints often drive automatic wrapping of output or files.

See also: word wrap, line breaking, hyphenation, Knuth–Plass algorithm, Unicode line breaking.