No they don't, they allow convertable indenting, because the editor needs to convert from actual to preferred (and probably back again when saving).
Tabs allow it to be done without touching the data.
Also, a "decent editor" could deal without any indenting (or newlines) at all - but we don't always have a decent editor to hand, so keeping the raw files with sensible whitespace makes far more sense.
quote:
they guarantee consistency of appearance, which is important when you're working with other people on a file and there is a mandated maximum line length.
WTF!? Who has maximum line lengths? This isn't 1970s any more.
Get a decent editor and you have:
1) horizontal scrollbars
2) working (soft) word wrap.
And get a decent language and structure and you'll almost never go beyond 100 characters wide anyway.
EDITED: 20 Apr 2011 18:38 by BOUGHTONP