Coding guidelines

1. Meaningful names of variables, classes and functions : The name of any variable, class or function should clearly imply what it does. Assigning a random name to any of these should not be done.

   e.g. myFunctionName() is not a meaningful name.

2. Spacing : Proper indentation and spacing is to be followed.

   • No space should precede the comma.

   • While creating conditional blocks, say using if, a space should be there between the if keyword and the opening parenthesis that follows.

   • Similarly while creating pointers, a space should be there between the class name for which pointer is created and the asterisk symbol.

     e.g. className *classObject; is the correct manner. Anything like :

     • className * classObject,
     • className* classObject is incorrect.

   • Creating a class should look like- className : public inheritedClass {}

     Keeping a space before and after the colon is advised.

3. camel-Casing : The naming standard for names to be followed is camel-Casing. e.g.

   • functionName,
   • className,
   • variableName, are acceptable.

   Any names of the form

   • functionname,
   • function_name,
   • _function_name, are not acceptable according to the naming convention.

4. The number of characters in a line should not exceed 80.

5. The functions should be declared together and variables together. e.g.

   void function1();  
   void function2(); // functions together
   
   int variable1;  
   int variable2; // variables together
   

   It should not be like:

   void function1();  
   int variable1;  
   void function2();  // functions along with a variable in one block
   
   int variable2; 
   

   Anything of the second form is not recommended to be done.

6. A line between if and else blocks: An empty line must be there between if and else blocks if each contains multiple statements. Otherwise, this empty line can be avoided. e.g.

   if (condition)  
   {    
     /* do something  
      * do more */  
   }  
   
   else  
   {  
     /* do something  
      * do more */  
   }
   

   Or it can be like:

   if (condition)    
     // do something  
   else  
     // do something  
   

   Anything of form other than this is not recommended. It keeps code readability good.