The author completely misses or ignores the volume of research on line length and readability[1].
"I cannot find a single logical reason for why we would actually need character line limits when writing code - at least when we assume that part of the developer’s job is to structure and format their code in a readable way."
How about this one:
if a developer chooses a smaller line width for readability reasons,
depending on the editor to wrap code is a fail.
The chance the editor wraps the line at a semantically sensible point approaches nil.
Perhaps there's a place for better code editors that wrap according to semantics,
but for now,
editors don't take it into account.
There are actually IDE plugins which perform 'semantic line wrapping'.
But that is besides the point. Of course, it can make sense to add manual line wraps, especially if the developer intends to make his intentions clearer by using line breaks at specific points.
But lots of developers use formatting plugins to force line breaks anyways - and they are no better then the IDE linewrapping.
How about this one: if a developer chooses a smaller line width for readability reasons, depending on the editor to wrap code is a fail. The chance the editor wraps the line at a semantically sensible point approaches nil. Perhaps there's a place for better code editors that wrap according to semantics, but for now, editors don't take it into account.
Betteridge's Law applies.
1 "both very short and very long lines slow down reading by interrupting the normal pattern of eye movements and movements throughout the text. " https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234578707_Optimal_L...