style_guide.md

C++ Coding Style Guidelines

• unix-style line breaks, UTF-8 file encoding
• indent with two spaces (no tabs)
• { should be at the end of the relevant line, not on a new line
• opening parenthesis after a control statement should not be preceded by a space - if( (good), for( (good), while( (good), if ( (bad), etc.
• always indent the contents of a switch statement, and likewise always indent the contents of each case unless it is a one-liner (which is totally fine);
• prefer breaking/returning early over complicated if/else chains
• prefer for(;;) { for infinite loops
• indent one space after // when commenting (// example comment)
• prefer // over multi-line comment syntax (looks better)
• prefer no blank lines within functions, but acceptable if things get crazy
• prefer one-line if/while/etc statements when possible
• prefer two-line if/else when possible
• separate functions and classes with a single blank line
• don't indent blank lines

Example:

if(boolean_expression) i++;
else cool_thing();
if(!another_expression) {
  crazy_variable--;
  awesome_stuff();
} else if(other_thing) {
  wicked();
} else {
  thats_cool();
}
switch(state) {
  case 0:
    std::cout << "it was zero" << std::endl;
    break;
  case 1:
    std::cout << "it was one" << std::endl;
    break;
}
while(something) something_else();
for(;;) {
  // infinite loop
  if(condition) return;
}