Questions tagged [coding-style]
Coding style is a set of guidelines that helps readability and understanding of the source code.
1,064 questions
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Where did the notion of "one return only" come from?
I often talk to programmers who say "Don't put multiple return statements in the same method." When I ask them to tell me the reasons why, all I get is "The coding standard says so." or "It's ...
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Is the use of "utf8=✓" preferable to "utf8=true"?
I have recently seen a few URIs containing the query parameter "utf8=✓". My first impression (after thinking "mmm, looks cool") was that this could be used to detect a broken character encoding.
So, ...
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Should curly braces appear on their own line? [closed]
Should curly braces be on their own line or not? What do you think about it?
if (you.hasAnswer()) {
you.postAnswer();
} else {
you.doSomething();
}
or should it be
if (you.hasAnswer())
{
...
310
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answers
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Python file naming convention?
I've seen this part of PEP-8 https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/#package-and-module-names
I'm not clear on whether this refers to the file name of a module/class/package.
If I had one example ...
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Should I return from a function early or use an if statement? [closed]
I've often written this sort of function in both formats, and I was wondering if one format is preferred over another, and why.
public void SomeFunction(bool someCondition)
{
if (someCondition)
...
271
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21
answers
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Are `break` and `continue` bad programming practices?
My boss keeps mentioning nonchalantly that bad programmers use break and continue in loops.
I use them all the time because they make sense; let me show you the inspiration:
function verify(object) {
...
202
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answers
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What's wrong with circular references?
I was involved in a programming discussion today where I made some statements that basically assumed axiomatically that circular references (between modules, classes, whatever) are generally bad. ...
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Developer insists if statements shouldn't have negated conditions, and should always have an else block
I have an acquaintance, a more seasoned developer than me.
We were talking about programming practices and I was taken aback by his approach on 'if' statements.
He insists on some practices regarding ...
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answers
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Elegant ways to handle if(if else) else
This is a minor niggle, but every time I have to code something like this, the repetition bothers me, but I'm not sure that any of the solutions aren't worse.
if(FileExists(file))
{
contents = ...
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answers
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Programming cleanly when writing scientific code
I don't really write large projects. I'm not maintaining a huge database or dealing with millions of lines of code.
My code is primarily "scripting" type stuff - things to test mathematical ...
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Should the variable be named Id or ID? [closed]
This is a bit pedantic, but I've seen some people use Id as in:
private int userId;
public int getUserId();
and others use:
private int userID;
public int getUserID();
Is one of these a better name ...
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153
votes
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answers
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What is the ideal length of a method for you? [closed]
In object-oriented programming, there is of course no exact rule on the maximum length of a method , but I still found these two quotes somewhat contradicting each other, so I would like to hear what ...
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votes
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answers
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Are private methods with a single reference bad style?
Generally I use private methods to encapsulate functionality that is reused in multiple places in the class. But sometimes I have a large public method that could be broken up into smaller steps, each ...
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In Java, should I use "final" for parameters and locals even when I don't have to?
Java allows marking variables (fields / locals / parameters) as final, to prevent re-assigning into them. I find it very useful with fields, as it helps me quickly see whether some attributes - or an ...
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Is there an excuse for short variable names?
This has become a large frustration with the codebase I'm currently working in; many of our variable names are short and undescriptive. I'm the only developer left on the project, and there isn't ...