Surely a personal preference kind of thing, and a detail that allows for lots of "personal reflection"

Myself, I'm all over the place with my cable ends. I used to crimp the ends by lightly clamping twice using the cutting part of my pliers' jaws. Then I figured out what those little notches were on my Park cable cutter and have been using that approach ever since. I usually allow 2" to remain in case I need to re-tension; the extra bit allows me to get a good grip with pliers; I snip off whatever bit got smooshed by the pliers during re-tensioning, add a new cap and it's ready to ride.

Most of my bikes wear standar silver caps, but on the Medici I went with red for a little added bling:



DD