[wetmore]

It depends on context. For example, here is a function from a project I'm working on:

    parseModifier : String -> Outcome Modifier
    parseModifier s = case s of
      "shift"   -> Ok Shift
      "ctrl"    -> Ok Ctrl
      "alt"     -> Ok Alt
      "meta"    -> Ok Meta
      "command" -> Ok Meta
      "windows" -> Ok Meta
      x         -> Err <| "Unknown modifier: " ++ x

I find it easier to read as is rather than if I dropped the alignment:

    parseModifier : String -> Outcome Modifier
    parseModifier s = case s of
      "shift" -> Ok Shift
      "ctrl" -> Ok Ctrl
      "alt" -> Ok Alt
      "meta" -> Ok Meta
      "command" -> Ok Meta
      "windows" -> Ok Meta
      x -> Err <| "Unknown modifier: " ++ x

As developers we spend more time reading code than editing it. Optimizing for readability seems like a better goal than optimizing for edit speed. Besides, most editors have functionality to align code. When I am looking over a file, the second example looks like a jumble of words to me, while the aligned version seems easier to parse (ha).

[mercurial]

I agree that unaligned switches/pattern matches are bad (and in fact, there is an utility for OCaml which will nicely indent your pattern matches).