>That's simply a matter of opinion based on what the observer is used to and not some kind of hard fact. Is 1=1 less readable than 1 = 1? There's more important things to worry about when coding than that.

Mike,

I hate to disagree here, but I have to. Including spaces does make the code more readable. When I, many years ago (1986-87), was studying Computer Science in college, we were told from the outset that if we didn't adhere to the spacing format, we'd get the assignment back with "Do over!" written in red on it. Your example is a simple one. More complex formulas yielding a much better example

c=SQRT(a^2+b^2)

or

c = SQRT(a ^ 2 + b ^ 2)

The thing that I believe is that readability isn't a small thing. It's a big thing. If it ain't readable, it ain't maintable. Maintenance is where the bulk of the cost of any system is.