Software Engineers Handbook/Supporting Processes/Coding Standards

Here is the wikipedia entry for coding standards. Coding standards generally contain a set of conventions for a specific language. Items typically covered are: Naming conventions including: how descriptive and long the names should be, what the capitalization scheme should be, and what the postfix and prefix conventions are. Physical organization, such as Definitions shall be located in the header files. and Do not include more than one class in one file. Structure conventions, such as Opening and closing braces shall be located in the same column like this: { { // code in here } } Style guides, such as Classes containing pointers shall have a virtual destructor. It is useful to include the reasoning and references for this type of standard. Legacy code guidance, such as When editing existing code, follow the coding naming and structure conventions of the existing code. C++ www.possibility.com coding standard www.chris-lott.org standard Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs by Scott Meyers 0321334876 is a reference for creating style guides. More Effective C++: 35 New Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs by Scott Meyers 020163371X is a reference for creating style guides. Java java.sun.com coding conventions C Gnu coding standards Eiffel ww.cs.unc.edu standard Naming conventions "Always, always, always use good, unabbreviated, correctly-spelled meaningful names." -- c2: MeaningfulName Popular naming conventions (naming formats) include: ALL_UPPERCASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES all_lowercase_with_underscores CamelCase uppercaseOnlyInTheMiddle _UnderscorePrefixedCamelCase Camel_Case_With_Underscores For surprisingly long conversations about naming conventions, see c2: UnderscoreVersusCapitalAndLowerCaseVariableNaming; Wikipedia: CamelCase; c2: CamelCase; and "Underscores vs CamelCase". Further reading See C++ Programming/Weblinks#C++ Coding Conventions for many more C++ coding conventions.