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Subject:Re: Spacing after a period... From:Steve Chalastra <chalastra -at- PROMIS -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 2 Jul 1997 10:26:55 -0400
Just as technology changes, so do standards. Certainly, one space
became the accepted standard in the early days of desktop publishing and
proportional fonts. However, I wish I could find and cite an article I
saw some time ago indicating that as DTP software has improved over the
years, "rivers of white" have become increasingly a non-issue, putting
the debate back in the realm of readability rather than technology.
Personally, I prefer using two spaces after periods. I've never noticed
any significant layout problems, and I'm convinced it aids readability.
Just as we break up paragraphs with space above or below, breaking up
sentences a shade more helps us to better perceive the structure of the
content, and so to infer its meaning. This is especially true in
software documentation where periods can be used in many other contexts,
such as file names and so on.
Craig Faichney wrote:
> >Which is correct? One space after a period or two spaces after a
> period
> >before starting the next sentence.
>
> One, one, one, ONE!
Steve Chalastra, Promis Systems Corporation
170 University Ave., Suite 1200, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3B3
Tel: (416) 977-0599 / Fax: (416) 977-2016
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