tabsløs

Tabsløs is a Danish term used in computing and typography to describe a practice of avoiding tab characters in text and source code. The word is a compound of tab, referring to the tabulator character, and løst/sløs meaning without; it is used chiefly in Danish-speaking tech communities to describe a style where indentation and alignment are achieved with spaces rather than tab characters. In software development, tabsløs coding means using spaces to indent rather than the Tab key. This aligns with many language style guides that standardize on a fixed number of spaces per indentation level, commonly four. Proponents argue that spaces render indentation independent of editor settings, producing consistent appearance across environments. Critics note that spaces can complicate changing indentation levels and may slightly increase file size, though modern editors support automatic conversion and soft tabs. In documentation and typesetting, tabsløs can refer to avoiding tab stops for layout; instead using paragraph indentation or style-based formatting. The term is not a formal standard; it is descriptive and context-dependent, varying by project and language. See also tabs and spaces; soft tabs; code style guidelines.