Coding conventions

CODE STANDARDS &
BEST PRACTICES

Md. Ibrahim Rashid [ irashid.com ]

Good Code Vs. Bad Code
 “The best applications are coded properly”
 This sounds like an obvious statement, but by
„properly‟, I mean that the code not only does its
job well, but is also easy to add to, maintain and
debug.

Ask Yourself?
 Is your code well organized and maintainable?
 Is you code well documented?

General Practices
 Naming Conventions
 Indentation
 Brace Style
 Commenting
 Code consistency
 Readability Vs. Compression

What should coding standards
provide?
 File, class, variable naming conventions
 Code formatting conventions
 Guidelines for consistency across the code
 Uniformity

Naming Conventions
 Class names are MixedCase
 [ ex. MyClass ]
 Method names are camelCase
 [ ex. myMethod() ]
 Constants are ALL_CAPS
 [ MY_CONSTANT ]
 Properties and variables are camelCase
 [ ex. myMethod() ]
 Non-public class members are _underscorePrefixed
 [Ex. _myPrivateVariable ]

Various Conventions

Class names MyClass
Method names my_function() myFunction() MyFunction
Constants MY_CONSTANT
Properties and my_variable myVariable
variables
Non-public class _my_private_variable _myPrivateVariabl
members e
Filenames MyFile.php myFile.php my_file.php
Class Filenames ClassMyFile.php classMyFile.php class_my_file.p
hp

Case insensitive : MyFile.php and myfile.php are same in
windows

Indentation
PHP(Drupal) Wordpress(PHP) C(K&R
standard)
Use an indent of 2 Use real Tab = 4
spaces, with no tabs and not spaces
tabs spaces,

Indentation
 Always Make
Proper Indent.

Indentation
 Use of Real Tabs, 4 space as Tabs, only
spaces is
controversial.
 It‟s because same source code loaded into
different editors with distinct setting will not
look alike.
 Use lines less than 80 characters.

Commenting
 Always try to put comments on your code.

Self documenting code
 Use of Long Method Name that reflects the
purpose of the method.
 Still It needs to be commented.

Code Readability

Always try to make readable code.

Readability Vs. Compression

YES!! I saved lots of bytes. Code is now compact.

There are lots of tools for making code compact. You don‟t have to write in
unreadable compact form.

Code consistency
 Let a project has 3 members.
 They watch this slide very carefully , and
realized the importance of coding standard &
best practices.
 Now, they are told to do the project perfectly.
 Each members uses his/her coding convention
and submitted the project.
 What will be the output ?

Code consistency
 Always use same standard throughout a
project.
 All members of a project must choose a fixed
convention before starting a project.

Learn from Others
 Don’t invent your own standard. All of the
issues have already been debated to death
by many others.
 Use an established standard
• Minimize politics by choosing an external
standard
 • Choose a standard compatible with the libraries
you use
 • Use the standard as a requirement when
outsourcing
 Stick to the standard you establish, don‟t mix

How To Write Unmaintainable
Code
Ensure a job for life ;-)

 Read This Site Carefully with negating every
concept.
 http://thc.org/root/phun/unmaintain.html

References
 http://wiki.mozilla.org/WebDev:FrontendCodeStandards
 http://na.isobar.com/standards/
 http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/C%2B%2B_Programming/Programming
_Languages/C%2B%2B/Code/Style_Conventions
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Coding_Practices
 http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Coding_Standards
 http://drupal.org/coding-standards
 Java Code Conventions
 http://www.sitepoint.com/coding-standards/
 http://www.programming4scientists.com/2008/09/26/good-code-
bad-code-an-example/
 http://thc.org/root/phun/unmaintain.html

Coding conventions

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Coding conventions