I recall reading something about "tab stops" that solved this problem, but I don't think there are any mainstream implementations of it.
> Never attempt to line up text by using spaces. The only exception is if you are using a monospaced font. But in word processing applications, there are appropriate tools available for lining up text, like tables[1] and tab stops[2].
[1]: https://practicaltypography.com/tables.html [2]: https://practicaltypography.com/tabs-and-tab-stops.html
But a major flaw is that it only works when your cell has less than 8 characters. Or it will go to the wrong stop. Which isn't that common today.
Because why insist in short names and 80 width character limit? Almost everyone have a screen that can fit hundreds of characters per line today.
Yet, books don't work that way, even though we have the technology. Long lines aren't readable. There's a reason newspapers have columns.
See eg https://baymard.com/blog/line-length-readability and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_length
You can keep to mostly text, but give the editor more leeway in how to lay it out and make the code's structure more visible.
Some really simple options, that you might not even recognise as going beyond text: folding of block and go-to-definition.