You can check vannila crafting table, or I created custom crafting table in my mod https://github.com/yanny7/StoneAge/blob/1.15/src/main/java/com/yanny/age/stone/recipes/FlintWorkbenchRecipeSerializer.java just clone mod and try to look into code how it works
Tabs are superior because when you backspace it removed the entire tab. Ergo it is the only correct way (also tabs are exactly 4 spaces wide and every other width is wrong).
Choose one style (tabs) and have your editor replace all occurrences of the other style with your preferred style. Also be sure to tell everyone that your style is superior at every opportunity.