diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/CodingGuidelines')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/CodingGuidelines | 75 |
1 files changed, 70 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines index 559d5f9ebf..f424dbd75c 100644 --- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines +++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines @@ -91,13 +91,13 @@ For shell scripts specifically (not exhaustive): E.g.: my_function () { - As to use of grep, stick to a subset of BRE (namely, no \{m,n\}, - [::], [==], nor [..]) for portability. + [::], [==], or [..]) for portability. - We do not use \{m,n\}; - We do not use -E; - - We do not use ? nor + (which are \{0,1\} and \{1,\} + - We do not use ? or + (which are \{0,1\} and \{1,\} respectively in BRE) but that goes without saying as these are ERE elements not BRE (note that \? and \+ are not even part of BRE -- making them accessible from BRE is a GNU extension). @@ -126,6 +126,17 @@ For C programs: "char * string". This makes it easier to understand code like "char *string, c;". + - Use whitespace around operators and keywords, but not inside + parentheses and not around functions. So: + + while (condition) + func(bar + 1); + + and not: + + while( condition ) + func (bar+1); + - We avoid using braces unnecessarily. I.e. if (bla) { @@ -145,6 +156,24 @@ For C programs: they were describing changes. Often splitting a function into two makes the intention of the code much clearer. + - Multi-line comments include their delimiters on separate lines from + the text. E.g. + + /* + * A very long + * multi-line comment. + */ + + Note however that a comment that explains a translatable string to + translators uses a convention of starting with a magic token + "TRANSLATORS: " immediately after the opening delimiter, even when + it spans multiple lines. We do not add an asterisk at the beginning + of each line, either. E.g. + + /* TRANSLATORS: here is a comment that explains the string + to be translated, that follows immediately after it */ + _("Here is a translatable string explained by the above."); + - Double negation is often harder to understand than no negation at all. @@ -242,11 +271,21 @@ Writing Documentation: processed into HTML and manpages (e.g. git.html and git.1 in the same directory). + The documentation liberally mixes US and UK English (en_US/UK) + norms for spelling and grammar, which is somewhat unfortunate. + In an ideal world, it would have been better if it consistently + used only one and not the other, and we would have picked en_US + (if you wish to correct the English of some of the existing + documentation, please see the documentation-related advice in the + Documentation/SubmittingPatches file). + Every user-visible change should be reflected in the documentation. The same general rule as for code applies -- imitate the existing - conventions. A few commented examples follow to provide reference - when writing or modifying command usage strings and synopsis sections - in the manual pages: + conventions. + + A few commented examples follow to provide reference when writing or + modifying command usage strings and synopsis sections in the manual + pages: Placeholders are spelled in lowercase and enclosed in angle brackets: <file> @@ -296,3 +335,29 @@ Writing Documentation: Use 'git' (all lowercase) when talking about commands i.e. something the user would type into a shell and use 'Git' (uppercase first letter) when talking about the version control system and its properties. + + A few commented examples follow to provide reference when writing or + modifying paragraphs or option/command explanations that contain options + or commands: + + Literal examples (e.g. use of command-line options, command names, and + configuration variables) are typeset in monospace, and if you can use + `backticks around word phrases`, do so. + `--pretty=oneline` + `git rev-list` + `remote.pushdefault` + + Word phrases enclosed in `backtick characters` are rendered literally + and will not be further expanded. The use of `backticks` to achieve the + previous rule means that literal examples should not use AsciiDoc + escapes. + Correct: + `--pretty=oneline` + Incorrect: + `\--pretty=oneline` + + If some place in the documentation needs to typeset a command usage + example with inline substitutions, it is fine to use +monospaced and + inline substituted text+ instead of `monospaced literal text`, and with + the former, the part that should not get substituted must be + quoted/escaped. |