Code style and tools
“Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.”
Harold Abelson
Style guide
Style guides are a set of rules and conventions that define how code should be written in a particular programming language. They cover aspects such as naming conventions, indentation, line length, and other formatting rules. Style guides help to ensure that code is consistent, readable, and maintainable, and they are often enforced by static analysis tools and formatters. Many programming languages have official style guides, and there are also community-driven style guides that provide additional recommendations and best practices.
Static analysis tool
Static analysis tools are used to analyze source code without executing it. They can identify potential issues in the code, such as syntax errors, bugs, and code smells. Static analysis tools can also enforce coding standards and best practices, and help to identify security vulnerabilities. They are often integrated into Continuous Integration workflows to ensure that code quality is maintained throughout the development process.
Formatters
Formatters are tools that automatically adjust the formatting of your code to make it consistent and readable according to predefined style guidelines. They do not identify errors in the logic of the code but instead can restructure the whitespace, line breaks, and indentation so that the code is more uniform across a project.
Overview of programming languages
| Language | Style Guide | Static Analysis Tools | Formatters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Python | PEP 8 | pylint, flake8, prospector |
black, autopep8, yapf |
| R | Tidyverse Style Guide | lintr |
styler |
| MATLAB | MATLAB Style Guidelines 2.0 | checkcode |
Code Analyzer |
| C/C++ | Google C++ Style Guide | cppcheck, clang-tidy |
clang-format, astyle |
| Julia | Julia Style Guide, Blue Style Guide | JET.jl, Aqua.jl |
JuliaFormatter.jl |
| Fortran | Fortran Best Practices | fortran-linter |
fprettify |