Programming Reference:Cpp Coding Style

Coding Style

Line Formatting

• No tab characters (configure your editor to insert spaces instead)
• Indentation in steps of 2
• Opening braces have their own line, aligned with the previous line; corresponding closing braces are placed on their own lines, at the same character position as the opening brace.
• For function definitions, return types appear on their own line, such that the function name is first in its line.

Naming

• ALL_UPPERCASE_NAMES are reserved for preprocessor macros.
• Use CamelCase (uppercase letters inside words) to indicate word boundaries.
• Class names and namespaces begin with uppercase letters: MyNameSpace, TheClass.
• Local variables and function arguments begin with lowercase letters.
• Accessor functions use Set/Get or directly the name of the property. Setter functions should return a non-const reference to the data object itself rather than void.

Name prefixes

Prefixes should carry information about the scope and usage of a variable but not its type.

• m for class data members
• s for static class members and static variables
• g for global variables
• c for constants
• p for pointers
• fp for function pointers
• in for function input arguments
• out for function output arguments
• io for function arguments used for input and output

Pointers, References, Stack and Heap, Memory allocation, Control flow

• Always use the narrowest possible scope for a name to avoid side effects.
• Always initialize variables (at declaration resp. constructor).
• Allocate from the stack rather than the heap unless there is a good reason to use the new operator. This avoids memory leaks.
• Use references rather than pointers wherever possible.
• Use STL containers rather than allocating arrays with new[]. This eliminates a number of possible errors (initialization, allocation, deallocation).
• Avoid goto, break outside switch-case blocks, and multiple return statements.

Example Function

void
MyClass::MyFunction( const int inMyInput, int& outMyOutput )
{
  outMyOutput = 10;
  for( int i = 0; i < inMyInput; ++i )
  {
    int k = 4;
    while( --k > 0 )
      outMyOutput -= k;
  }
}