Code Formatter

How Code Formatter Works

This tool re-indents any curly-brace code -- JavaScript, PHP, Java, C, C++, CSS, JSON, and similar languages -- by tracking how deeply each line sits inside nested { } blocks, strips out blank lines, and checks whether every opening brace has a matching closing one.

Formula & Method

The formatter is intentionally not a full per-language parser -- it works purely off curly braces, which are the strongest language-agnostic indentation signal shared by C-like, JSON, and CSS-like code. It first removes every blank line, then walks the remaining lines while tracking a running nesting depth: a line that starts with one or more closing braces is dedented before those closes are applied, and each line is indented by depth × indent size spaces (indent size is adjustable, default 4). Depth increases by the number of { on a line and decreases by the number of }, clamped so it never goes below zero for display purposes. Separately, brace balance is checked over the raw, unclamped count across the whole text: if the running count ever dips below zero, there's at least one stray closing brace with no matching opener; if it doesn't return to exactly zero by the end, there's at least one opening brace with no matching closer.

Worked Example

Given this snippet with extra blank lines and no indentation -- function foo() {, a blank line, if (x) {, bar();, }, a blank line, } -- with indent size set to 2, the formatter removes the 3 blank lines, reports a max nesting depth of 2, confirms the braces are balanced, and outputs the code re-indented as function foo() { /   if (x) { /     bar(); /   } / }.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this formatter understand PHP, Python, or other specific language syntax?

No -- it only tracks curly-brace nesting, so it works the same way across any curly-brace language (JS, PHP, Java, C, C++, CSS, JSON). It doesn't parse language-specific constructs like Python's indentation-based blocks, string contents, or comments, so braces that appear inside a string or comment are still counted as real braces.

What does "Unbalanced" mean in the result?

It means the number of opening { and closing } characters in your code don't match up -- either an extra closing brace with nothing to close, or an opening brace that's never closed. The warning message tells you which of these occurred and roughly how many.

Why were some of my blank lines removed?

The formatter strips every blank (whitespace-only) line before re-indenting, as part of tidying up the code. If you need to preserve deliberate spacing between sections, add a comment line instead of an empty line.

Can I change how many spaces are used per indent level?

Yes -- the indent size slider controls how many spaces represent one nesting level, from 1 to 8 spaces, and the formatted output updates immediately when you change it.