a rough breakdown of how i approach php whitespace, for stilldavid

whitespace.php

<?php
// i used to always indent after the opening php tag, but i've decided that's
// kind of silly for non-template stuff.

// general stuff:
//   - 2 space indents, no tab characters.
//   - i think whitespace contributes to readability, and code that is
//     crammed into the least space possible often strikes me as harder
//     to follow.
//   - i like to align like things vertically.

// ----------- try to fit things in 80 chars where practical ------------------^

class Foo {

  // logically related assignments should be grouped and aligned on the
  // assignment operator, which should have whitespace around it in most
  // situations:

  public $one   = 1;
  public $two   = 2;
  public $three = 3;

  // non-public variables get underscores in front, because then you know
  // something about their accessibility at a glance:
  protected $_spaceship = 'Nostromo';

  // array elements should be aligned on the fat arrow, because tabular things
  // are easier to read at a glance:
  protected $_dudes = array(
    'captain'   => 'ralph',
    'commander' => 'bob',
  ); 

  // i often think it's cleaner to indent nested arrays one indentation
  // level than to make them line up all the way over with the fat arrow, but
  // all i really care about is that the structure be obvious from the layout.
  protected $_someNestedArray = array(
    'one' => array(
      'la',
      'la',
      'la',
    ),

    // obviously way cleaner for this case - so sue me, i couldn't think of
    // an example:
    'two' => array('do', 're', 'mi'),
  );

  // modified k&r - i like the space in between function name and () for
  // definitions.  i don't care very much about this in general, but it should
  // be consistent for every function or method defined in a file.
  public function __construct ($one, $two)
  {
    // things happen here
  }

  // sometimes it seems cleaner to put short, one-statement functions 
  // on a single line, especially if there are a bunch of similar ones.
  public function getShip () { return $this->_spaceship; }

  public function dudeManifest ()
  {
    $manifest = '';
    foreach ($dudes as $role => $name) {
      // often, i build strings with the concatenation operator vertically
      // aligned to the assignment, to keep the relationship between assignee 
      // and value clear:
      $manifest .= "Role: $role\t"
                 . "Name: $name\n";
    }

    // function calls should have spaces after the commas.
    return $this->boilerplate($manifest, "DUDES\n", "\nFIN");
  }

  public function boilerplate ($body, $header, $footer)
  {
    // returns and other "language constructs" (print, echo, require, etc.)
    // don't need parens around them.  most operators are less visually
    // confusing with spaces around them.
    return $body . $header . $footer; 
  }

  public function ralphHat ()
  {
    // i sometimes align ternaries like so because it scans quickly and
    // makes the relationship less ambiguous.  (also, generally, fuck
    // the ternary operator, especially in php where its precedence is
    // wrong.)

    return 'ralph' === $this->_dudes['captain']
           ? 'Captain Hat'
           : 'Not-Captain Hat';
  }

}
// finally, i leave off the closing php tag in the file because i will be
// certain to avoid that thing where there's unnoticed whitespace after it
// and i get an impossible-to-track bug because it gets spit out by php
// as soon as the file is included. god i hate that.

If you want I'll add references for everything. :D