Software Programming Style

A Software Programming Style is a set of conventions that governs the writing and formatting of source code in a programming language.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) include File Organization Guidelines, Code Formating Guidelines, Code Comment Guidelines, Code Declaration Guidelines, Naming Convention Guidelines, and Programming Practice Guidelines.
  • It can (often) be specific to a Programming Language-Specific Coding Style.
  • It can (often) be enforced manually by Code Reviews or automatically using Code Analysis Tools.
  • It can range from being an Organization-Specific Condting Style to being a Personal Coding Style.
  • It can range from being a Dated Coding Style (e.g. minimalist, compact) to being a Modern Coding Style (readable, maintainable).
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • an Organization-Specific Condting Style, such as:
    • Google's Java Style Guide, which provides conventions for writing Java code at Google.
    • PEP 8, which is the style guide for Python code in the Python community.
    • Microsoft's C# Coding Conventions, which are guidelines for writing C# code using Microsoft's .NET framework.
    • ...
  • a Personal Coding Style, such as:
    • Donald Knuth's, known for his precise and rigorous approach to coding and documentation.
    • Linus Torvalds's, known for emphasizing efficiency and performance in code.
    • Guido van Rossum, known for advocating for readability and simplicity in coding.
    • Brian Kernighan's and Dennis Ritchie's, who emphasized clarity and economy of expression in their code.
    • Martin Fowler's, known for emphasizing design patterns, enterprise patterns, and agile software development practices.
    • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • A Programming Paradigm, such as Object-Oriented Programming or Functional Programming.
  • A Software Design Pattern, such as the Singleton pattern or Observer pattern.
• See: Code Quality, Programming Language, Software Documentation, Software Maintenance, Legacy System, Software Innovation.

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References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_style Retrieved:2024-2-9.
  • Programming style, also known as code style, is a set of rules or guidelines used when writing the source code for a computer program. It is often claimed that following a particular programming style will help programmers read and understand source code conforming to the style, and help to avoid introducing errors.

    A classic work on the subject was The Elements of Programming Style, written in the 1970s, and illustrated with examples from the Fortran and PL/I languages prevalent at the time.

    The programming style used in a particular program may be derived from the coding conventions of a company or other computing organization, as well as the preferences of the author of the code. Programming styles are often designed for a specific programming language (or language family): style considered good in C source code may not be appropriate for BASIC source code, etc. However, some rules are commonly applied to many languages.

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