AStyle C/C++ Source Code Formatter Plugin

This plugin allows for formatting and pretty-printing of C/C++ source code in an easy and convenient way.
It is based on the Artistic Style code formatter utility.

What is the Artistic Style code formatter utility ?

Artistic Style is a re-indenter and re-formatter of C and C++ source code.

The AStyle homepage is at sourceforge.net/projects/astyle/.

Why Source Code Indentation ?

When indenting source code, we as programmers have a tendency to use both spaces and tab characters to create the wanted indentation. Moreover, some editors by default insert  spaces instead of tabs when pressing the tab key, and other editors (Emacs for example) have the ability to "pretty up" lines by automatically setting up the white space before the code on the line, possibly inserting spaces in a code that up to now used only tabs for indentation.

Since the NUMBER of space characters showed on screen for each tab character in the source code changes between editors (until the user sets up the number to his liking...), one of the standard problems facing programmers when moving from one source code editor to another is that code containing both spaces and tabs that was up to now perfectly indented, suddenly becomes a mess to look at when changing to another editor. Even if you as a programmer take care to ONLY use spaces or tabs, looking at other peoples source code can still be problematic.