Eclipse Formatter isn't indenting correctly

Question

We are using the Java Conventions [built-in] formatter for our Eclipse projects. The code looks as expected after formatting and indents correctly when viewing it in Eclipse .

What we've noticed is that if we open the file in Notepad++ (Or other apps) the indentation is actually incorrect. Eg The method body has the same indentation as the method. Also if code is copied from Eclipse it isn't indented correctly.

Example 1

In Eclipse

class Example {

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        System.out.println("Hello World!");
    }
}

In Notepad++

class Example {

public static void main(String args[]) {
    System.out.println("Hello World!");
}
}

Example 2

In Eclipse

public static void main(String args[]) {
    System.out.println("Hello World!");
}

In Notepad++

public static void main(String args[]) {
System.out.println("Hello World!");
}

Is this behaviour expected?

Screenshot of spaces/tabs

All Characters

Answer 1

The Java Conventions [Built-in] profile uses 8 spaces for tabs.

Notepad uses 8 spaces but Notepad++ (and most other IDEs I've used Eg IntelliJ ) uses 4 spaces.

To fix this copy the profile and change the tab spacing to 4 .

Alternatively the Tab Policy could be changed to Spaces Only . I prefer this as I don't feel tabs should be used for spacing. This question is an example of why tabs shouldn't be used.

Answer 2

The default Eclipse formatter profile, Eclipse [Built-in] , displays tabs with a width of 4 spaces .

In contrast, the Java Conventions [Built-in] , displays tabs with a width of 8 spaces .

This is given by the Code Conventions for the Java Programming Language , 4 - Indentation as follows (highlighting by me):

Four spaces should be used as the unit of indentation. The exact construction of the indentation (spaces vs. tabs) is unspecified. Tabs must be set exactly every 8 spaces (not 4) .

These days, the original Java Code Conventions with its mixed tab policy and a tab width of 8 spaces is rarely used. You may consider switching to the Eclipse [Built-in] formatter profile.