A tab character is 1 byte. A space character is 1 byte. One tab in a 2-"space" indented HTML file is 1 byte. One "tab" in a 2-space indented HTML file is 2 bytes. One tab in a 4-"space" indented Python file is 1 byte. One "tab" in a 4-space indented Python file is 4 bytes.
A lot of developers and companies are climatetards, so I was wondering what the differences in general energy impact might be between using tabs vs. spaces for indentation. I threw some general questions at Claude and let it spit out some answers. Maybe they're accurate, I don't know, but I do know that the general theory that tabs are a much more efficient method of indentation is necessarily true.
Here's the tl;dr estimates from Claude:
| Context | Extra annual energy (spaces vs tabs) |
|---|---|
| HTTP/web traffic | ~20–60 GWh/year |
| Repository transmission | ~2–4 GWh/year |
| Repository storage | ~0.07 GWh/year |
| Compilers/interpreters/IDEs | ~0.002–0.018 GWh/year |
| Combined | ~25–65 GWh/year |
This is roughly equivalent to the power consumed by 2000-6000 homes per year.
how do you know tranny developers prefer spaces though?
what is a neovagina but additional space in the body? are trannies not regularly attempting to invade others' spaces? robert heinlein wrote about trannies at length in his works of speculative fiction. in what conceptual realm do heinlein's books' plots regularly unfold? space.
Do you think their spaces identify as tabs?