Editorial guidelines

These are the editorial rules I have devised for writing. I try to pair them with rationales, but some may not have any. I add to this when I encounter the cases that make these rules so I can refer others to them and keep up with things myself.

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General

• No sentences in technical literature that begins with Note: or Note that.
  • Rationale: It's just logically lazy. When you feel the need to write this kind of sentence, it's your clue that you need to rethink the structure of your paragraph. No one wants to read a little rat's nest of rules, so clean it up.
• Do not use the word "byte"; instead, use "octet".
  • Rationale: Conciseness. Bytes are not always 8 bits; octets are.

Technical literature

• When describing aggregate objects such as lists or groups, always make sure to mention what their elements are denominated in explicitly.
  • Rationale: Readers need to be able to decompose the objects you are talking about in their own minds.