title: Objective reasons for using spaces instead of tabs for indentation?
body: <p>Are there objective reasons for using spaces instead of tabs for indenting files as per PSR-2 standard, can someone provide:</p>
  <ul>
  <li>facts,</li>
  <li>references,</li>
  <li>specific expertise</li>
  </ul>
  <p>on which PSR-2 standard is based?</p>
  <p>Authors of PSR-2 standard had in mind something more than &quot;look and feel&quot;, something more than just opinion based thing, and lots of people have trouble understanding why spaces are better during teamwork.</p>
  <h3>Explanation on accepted answer:</h3>
  <p>According to Farsides' answer: repositories thing may be an exact case of why spaces are in PSR-2 explained as indentation tool. PSR-2 is standard developed to assist teamwork. Single accidental spaces at the beginning of line - when using tabs - may not be visible in the IDE and can sneak out to repository. If a couple of people work on same file it is highly possible to generate unnecessary conflicts. Using spaces instead of tabs makes it possible to easily catch such an accidental space on eyeball and this is probably a reason, why using them become a standard.</p>