255 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
255 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
“Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the
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first place. So if you’re as clever as you can be when you write it, how
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will you ever debug it?”
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– Brian Kernighan, The Elements of Programming Style
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The following guidelines are conducive to clear and readable code that is
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consistent with the style of the rest of the Bonsai Computer System.
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Use
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===
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0. A single line for control flow statements short enough to be easily
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understood at a glance:
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if !(argc < 0) { usage(program_name); }
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This applies to C switch statements and cases and Rust match statements, as
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well:
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switch (value) { /* aligning stuff to make it easier to read is fine */
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case possibility: variable = foo; break;
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default: variable = NULL; break;
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}
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1. Switch cases in C and match arms in Rust should start another level of
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indentation:
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switch (value) {
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case possibility:
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statement;
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break;
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case default:
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statement;
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break;
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}
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match result {
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Ok(n) => variable = n,
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Err(e) => error = e,
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}
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2. Braces in control flow where their inclusion is left optional in C:
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if (condition) { statement; }
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3. Empty lines between different kinds of statements:
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int t;
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assert(io->bufuse > 0);
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assert(io->bufuse <= io->bs);
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if ((t = write(io->fd, io->buf, io->bufuse)) < 0) {
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io->error = errno;
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t = 0;
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} else if (t > 0) {
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memmove(io->buf, &(io->buf)[t], (io->bufuse -= t));
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}
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io->bytes += t;
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io->prec += (t > 0 && io->bufuse > 0);
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io->rec += (t > 0 && io->bufuse == 0);
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return io;
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4. Compiler options that yield the most useful warnings, such as -Wpedantic in
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a lot of C compilers. Fix the warnings, too [0].
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5. Fixed bounds for loops [0].
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6. One more level of indentation and one argument per line when a function
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call or statement header is too long to fit on one line:
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let usage = format!(
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"Usage: {} [-d delimiter] index command [args...]",
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argv[0],
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);
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7. One more level of indentation than the keyword that initiated a multi-line
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block.
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if (condition) {
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statement;
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statement;
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}
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8. The return value of all non-void functions, or explicitly ignore them (like
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casting to void in C) [0]:
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if ((a = malloc(sizeof char)) == NULL) { /* handle this error */
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(void)fprintf(stderr, "oh noes!"); /* explicitly ignore this one */
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return EX_OSERR; /* ...because the program is exiting anyway */
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}
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9. The smallest possible scope for data [0].
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10. Comments noting all the symbols and macros used from a C header file, next
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to its include macro:
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#include <unistd.h> /* close(2), getopt(3), lseek(2), read(2), write(2),
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(space-aligned) * optarg, optind, STDIN_FILENO, STDOUT_FILENO */
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11. Spaces in control flow statements, after the keyword and before the
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opening brace:
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for (i = 2; i < argc; ++i) {
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12. In Rust, a trailing comma on all arguments or fields that are on their own
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lines:
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return Err(EvaluationError {
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message: format!("{}: Invalid token", i),
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code: EX_DATAERR,
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})
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13. In Rust, place extern statements after use statements that include standard
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library crates. Group like statements:
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use std::fs::Path;
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extern crate strerror;
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extern crate sysexits;
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use strerror::StrError;
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use sysexits::{ EX_OSERR, EX_USAGE };
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14. If text is on the same line as a brace, spaces after an opening brace and
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before a closing one:
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use sysexits::{ EX_DATAERR, EX_IOERR, EX_UNAVAILABLE, EX_USAGE };
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15. Alphabetic sorting, where applicable:
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use std::io::{ BufWriter, Read, Write, stderr, stdin, stdout }
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16. In Rust, use the to_owned() method on string types (str, OsStr, CStr, etc.)
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and the to_string() method on other types.
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Avoid
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=====
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17. Function pointers [0].
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18. Heap memory allocation [0].
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19. Using too much nested logic (within reason).
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20. Too many levels of dereferences [0]:
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/* do not do this */
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for (size_t i = 0; i < sizeof a / sizeof *a; ++i) {
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if (a[i].id == MATCH) { a[i].val = 0; }
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}
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/* do this */
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for (struct MadeUp *s = &a[0]; *s != NULL; s = &s[1]) {
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if (s->id == MATCH) { s->val = 0; }
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}
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21. Using C preprocessor macros; the fewer, the better [0].
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22. The exit(3p) and std::process::exit() functions; returning from the main
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function skips a system call.
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Do Not Use
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==========
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23. More than the length of one printed page for a function [0].
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24. Recursion, as it’s complex and can unexpectedly overflow the stack [0].
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25. Any functionality not in the POSIX C specification and language features not
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in C99.
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26. Do-while loops, as they’re unique to C and confusing for casual programmers.
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27. Labels and goto statements; use sensible flow control [0].
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28. Pointer arithmetic, as it tends to be confusing and unnecessary; use
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index-reference patterns like &p[1] instead of p + 1. &p[n] is the address at
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p + sizeof p * n, not p + n, like pointer arithmetic suggests.
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29. C struct bitfields in unions, to access certain bits of bigger data types,
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as it’s poorly defined in the C standards; use bit arithmetic.
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30. C trigraphs.
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31. Inclusions in C header files, to prevent multiple file inclusions.
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32. C preprocessor variables to prevent multiple inclusions of the same file,
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such as:
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#ifdef _FILE
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#define _FILE
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/* file body */
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#endif /* ifdef _FILE */
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Instead, take the time to ensure other files aren’t including any files twice.
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33. The gets(3p) function from <stdio.h>, as it’s impossible to prevent buffer
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overflows when it's used; use fgets(3p) from <stdio.h>.
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34. The scanf(3p) function from <stdio.h> [1].
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35. Any functionality not described in the latest POSIX make(1) specification.
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36. Macros which panic on failure in Rust (such as the print!() and println!()
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macros). Use a function and handle any errors. However, do use the eprintln!()
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macro for error messages. Handling an error for writing an error message is
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redundant.
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Usage Text
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==========
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This section is adapted from the NetBSD style guide [2].
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When programs are invoked incorrectly and in the synopsis of manual pages, uasge
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text should be provided to the user. The following is the format used by this
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project for this purpose:
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All optional arguments are to be placed in square brackets (U+005B, U+005D).
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Mutually exclusive arguments can be separated by a vertical line (U+007C).
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Groups of arguments should be specified in alphabetical order in most cases. The
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order of arguments and an example of these rules follows:
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0. Options with no option arguments.
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1. Options with option arguments. Arguments should be specified inside the same
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square brackets as the options.
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3. Non-option arguments.
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"usage: f [-aDde] [-b b_arg] [-m m_arg] req1 req2 [opt1 [opt2]]\n"
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"usage: f [-a | -b] [-c [-de] [-n number]]\n"
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References
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==========
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[0] <https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~imarkov/10rules.pdf>
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[1] <http://sekrit.de/webdocs/c/beginners-guide-away-from-scanf.html>
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[2] <http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/~checkout~/src/share/misc/style>
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--
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Copyright © 2024 Emma Tebibyte <emma@tebibyte.media>
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Copyright © 2024 DTB <trinity@trinity.moe>
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Copyright © Wikipedia contributors
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This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit
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<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/>.
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