https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Bryanexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-05-21T16:00:42ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1285:_Third_Way&diff=516071285: Third Way2013-11-01T17:40:24Z<p>Bryan: added wiki markup note</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1285<br />
| date = November 1, 2013<br />
| title = Third Way<br />
| image = third way.png<br />
| titletext = 'The monospaced-typewriter-font story is a COMPLETE FABRICATION!&nbsp;&nbsp;WAKE UP, SHEEPLE' 'It doesn't matter! Studies support single spaces!' 'Those results weren't statistically significant!' 'Fine, you win. I'm using double spaces right now!' 'Are not!&nbsp;&nbsp;We can all hear your stupid whitespace.'<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
This comic refers to the debate occurring in the United States about the {{w|Sentence spacing|correct number of spaces after the end of a sentence}}.<br />
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While text written on typewriters in the United States traditionally had two spaces between sentences, this is becoming less common and many sources now recommend having only one space, although this topic is still {{w|Sentence spacing#Controversy|controversial}}.<br />
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[[Cueball]] is advocating a line break after every sentence, the eponymous "third way", and sometimes called "semantic linefeeds". This is particularly useful when plain text files (such as HTML, TeX, or {{w|Wiki markup}}) are edited by multiple people using a {{w|Revision_control|Version control system}} where it helps to avoid merge conflicts.<br />
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So far, however, his approach has not yet widely caught on.<br />
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The tooltip text uses single spaces between the back-and-forth quotations; but within each quotation, the quoted speaker's preferred spacing is used.<br />
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In particular, when the single-spacing advocate claims to be using double spacing, this is indeed a lie.<br />
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(You have to look at the page HTML to see this, since a single space and a double space render identically.)<br />
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This is not the first time Randall has proposed a [[690|controversial]] [[1167|third way]].<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Two angry mobs, each holding signs, with Cueball standing off to the side with another sign.]<br />
:[The first mob's sign says "'''Two''' spaces after a period," The second mob's sign says "'''One''' space after a period," and Cueball's sign says "Line break after every sentence."]<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Sheeple]]</div>Bryan