Hey everyone! I’m having this weird issue where I was writing my code in Google Docs and it seemed pretty compact and manageable. But when I copied it over to my IDE or submitted it online, suddenly it became this massive wall of text that looks way longer than I expected.
Has anyone else experienced this before? I’m not sure if it’s because of formatting differences between Google Docs and actual coding environments, or if there’s something else going on. Maybe it’s the font size or line spacing that made it look different?
I’m kinda panicking because I thought my solution was concise but now it looks overwhelming. Any ideas on why this happens or how to avoid it in the future? Should I be writing code directly in a proper code editor instead of Google Docs?
for sure, google docs is not good for code. try sticking to a code editor like vscode or sublime text so you don’t run into these issues. it helps keep things tidy. gl!
Google Docs uses proportional fonts and different line spacing than code editors, so text looks way shorter than it really is. When you paste into an IDE with monospace fonts, each character takes equal space and you see the real length.
I learned this the hard way during my first internship - my “clean” code turned into a mess during code review. Google Docs also strips whitespace and adds hidden formatting characters that break syntax.
Just write code in a proper editor from the start. Even Notepad++ shows you the actual size and structure of your code. You’ll catch bloated code early instead of getting hit with surprises later.
Writing code in Google Docs is like trying to build a car with kitchen utensils. Docs treats your code like regular text, so the formatting gets completely messed up with weird spacing and font rendering.
Here’s the thing though - even with a proper IDE, you might still end up with bloated, overwhelming code. I’ve seen this happen tons of times when people manually write repetitive logic or complex integrations.
Step back and automate the whole thing instead. Rather than writing hundreds of lines of manual code, build the same functionality visually using automation tools. I’ve replaced entire codebases with simple workflows that do the same job but with zero maintenance.
Example: I recently had a project that would’ve been 500+ lines of API integration code. Built it as an automated workflow instead - handles all the data processing, error handling, and integrations without writing a single line.
Your code looks huge because you’re probably doing manually what could be automated. Try building your solution as a visual workflow - way cleaner and easier to manage.
Check out Latenode for this approach: https://latenode.com