Space Cookies Programming 2017 Guidelines

This document contains framework, style, and check-in guidelines.

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Framework

See the current documentation here.

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Style Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to ensure consistency across our code.

Constructors

• Initialize all private instance variables in constructors in roughly the same order they were declared in the header file.

Header Files

• All header files should have #define guards

	#ifndef FILE_NAME_H
	#define FILE_NAME_H
	...
	#endif		// SRC_FOLDER_FILE_NAME_H

• #include the header files in this order (if applicable): WPILib.h, external libraries specific to robotics (like navx/AHRS.h), other header files in the order they appear in your source tree, and libraries specific to C++ (like <iostream>)
• Only #include the header files you need

Pointers

• Declare pointers like type *ptrName;. If you're declaring more than one pointer, do type *ptrName1, *ptrName2;.

Formatting

• Put the starting curly brace on the same line (like Method() {)
• Try to group similar methods and variables together. Separate the groups with empty lines.
• In header files, generally methods go before variables
• Methods should be written in this order: Get, Set, Reset

Switch statements

Format:

switch (condition) {
case ABC:
    statements;
    break;
case DEF:
    statements;
    break;
default:
    statements;
    break;
}

Naming Conventions

• Instance variables: lowerCamelCase

• Member instance variable: 'lowerCaseCamel_'. Don't forget the underscore!

• Macros, consts (like ports): CAPITAL_LETTERS

• Methods and classes: UpperCamelCase

• Enum-list: kInit, kIdle, etc.

• Abbreviate only when necessary

• Class names should be nouns.

• Accessor methods typically start with Get, mutator methods typically start with Set.

Unit and Coordinate Conventions

All distances are in feet, all angles are in degrees. +x is forward, +y is left. This means that positive degrees are counterclockwise.

Other

• Use double (not float) for decimal values
• Always use curly braces for if statements, for loops, etc.

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Check-in Guidelines

Follow these guidelines for clarity and quality control.

Checklist:

• Are you only checking in the files you changed? Make sure to check the diffs between your code and the code in the repo.
• Does the code compile?
• Have you added descriptive and concise comments to your code?
• Does the code comply with our style guidelines?
• Has a leader and/or mentor checked your code?
• Have you written a descriptive commit message with the following details?:
  • The changes you made
  • Whether you tested the code and how it ran on the robot
  • Next steps / what needs to be done on the code
  • Sign your name, the names of people working with you, and the person/people who checked your code.

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Changing the INI File

• ssh into roboRIO.
• cd /home/lvuser
• ls ---> lists files
• vi robot.ini ---> you can modify this file by typing "i" (for insert). When you're done, hit escape and then ":wq" (saves and quits)