C++ Coding Standards
Link to discussion forum: https://community.openpbs.org/t/openpbss-c-coding-standards/2315
This will be added to https://openpbs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DG/pages/1481670667
Follow the C Coding Standards, then look here for C++ specific guidelines.
File Extensions
Source files should use .cpp
Header files should use .hpp
Because we a mixed C/C++ project, it is helpful to know which header files we can use in a C file. Therefore, a C header should have a different extension than a C++ header.
.hpp is chosen because it easily attributed to .cpp files.
From the Boost FAQ:
File extensions communicate the "type" of the file, both to humans and to computer programs. The '.h' extension is used for C header files, and therefore communicates the wrong thing about C++ header files... Using '.hpp' unambiguously identifies it as C++ header file, and works well in actual practice. (Rainer Deyke)
Whitespace
We use tabs to be consistent with our C code.
Because we use tabs, we can’t use partial indents.
We don’t want to have a ton of horizontal white space making our lines longer than it has to be.
Classes will not have an indent before public, protected and private
// Bad
class MyClass {
public:
MyClass();
~MyClass();
private:
int count;
};
// Good
class MyClass {
public:
MyClass();
~MyClass();
private:
int count;
};Namespaces will not cause a level of indentation
namespace pbs {
// Bad
int add(int x, int y);
// Good
int add(int x, int y);
}Names and Orders of Includes
pbs_config.h if needed
System and STL headers
pbs headers
Some good things to keep in mind
Casting
Do not use C-style casts; instead use C++ style casts.
// Bad
int *p = (int *)malloc(sizeof(int));
// Good
int *p = static_cast<int *>(malloc(sizeof(int)));Note: Void pointers can't be assigned to non-void pointers without a cast.
Use const char * whenever possible
If you're not changing a char * argument, use const in the function definition
Prefer nullptr to NULL
NULL is often just defined 0, nullptr is a pointer type pointing to the address 0x0.
auto is awesome
A lot of types can be very long strings, such as classes with templates. auto lets you save some typing by deducing the type from the right-hand-side.
Namespaces
Using using namespace <name> is not a good idea, as it can pollute the global namespace. Instead, use the namespace prefix.
If you’re in the pbs namespace, don’t create another namespace prefixed with pbs_
Unique Pointers
You can find an example of unique pointers here: https://openpbs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PD/pages/2172551169
Inheritance/Polymorphism
You can find an example of these OOP features here: https://openpbs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PD/pages/2191458305