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-rw-r--r--Documentation/CodingGuidelines41
1 files changed, 26 insertions, 15 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
index f45db5b727..e3af089ecf 100644
--- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
+++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ For shell scripts specifically (not exhaustive):
- If you want to find out if a command is available on the user's
$PATH, you should use 'type <command>', instead of 'which <command>'.
- The output of 'which' is not machine parseable and its exit code
+ The output of 'which' is not machine parsable and its exit code
is not reliable across platforms.
- We use POSIX compliant parameter substitutions and avoid bashisms;
@@ -91,16 +91,10 @@ For shell scripts specifically (not exhaustive):
- No shell arrays.
- - No strlen ${#parameter}.
-
- No pattern replacement ${parameter/pattern/string}.
- We use Arithmetic Expansion $(( ... )).
- - Inside Arithmetic Expansion, spell shell variables with $ in front
- of them, as some shells do not grok $((x)) while accepting $(($x))
- just fine (e.g. dash older than 0.5.4).
-
- We do not use Process Substitution <(list) or >(list).
- Do not write control structures on a single line with semicolon.
@@ -181,6 +175,11 @@ For shell scripts specifically (not exhaustive):
does not have such a problem.
+ - Even though "local" is not part of POSIX, we make heavy use of it
+ in our test suite. We do not use it in scripted Porcelains, and
+ hopefully nobody starts using "local" before they are reimplemented
+ in C ;-)
+
For C programs:
@@ -203,7 +202,7 @@ For C programs:
. since early 2012 with e1327023ea, we have been using an enum
definition whose last element is followed by a comma. This, like
an array initializer that ends with a trailing comma, can be used
- to reduce the patch noise when adding a new identifer at the end.
+ to reduce the patch noise when adding a new identifier at the end.
. since mid 2017 with cbc0f81d, we have been using designated
initializers for struct (e.g. "struct t v = { .val = 'a' };").
@@ -238,6 +237,18 @@ For C programs:
while( condition )
func (bar+1);
+ - Do not explicitly compare an integral value with constant 0 or '\0',
+ or a pointer value with constant NULL. For instance, to validate that
+ counted array <ptr, cnt> is initialized but has no elements, write:
+
+ if (!ptr || cnt)
+ BUG("empty array expected");
+
+ and not:
+
+ if (ptr == NULL || cnt != 0);
+ BUG("empty array expected");
+
- We avoid using braces unnecessarily. I.e.
if (bla) {
@@ -483,21 +494,21 @@ For Python scripts:
- We follow PEP-8 (http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/).
- - As a minimum, we aim to be compatible with Python 2.6 and 2.7.
+ - As a minimum, we aim to be compatible with Python 2.7.
- Where required libraries do not restrict us to Python 2, we try to
also be compatible with Python 3.1 and later.
- - When you must differentiate between Unicode literals and byte string
- literals, it is OK to use the 'b' prefix. Even though the Python
- documentation for version 2.6 does not mention this prefix, it has
- been supported since version 2.6.0.
-
Error Messages
- Do not end error messages with a full stop.
- - Do not capitalize ("unable to open %s", not "Unable to open %s")
+ - Do not capitalize the first word, only because it is the first word
+ in the message ("unable to open %s", not "Unable to open %s"). But
+ "SHA-3 not supported" is fine, because the reason the first word is
+ capitalized is not because it is at the beginning of the sentence,
+ but because the word would be spelled in capital letters even when
+ it appeared in the middle of the sentence.
- Say what the error is first ("cannot open %s", not "%s: cannot open")