Coding Style Guide

EEROS is written primarily in C++, and its developers follow the Google C++ Style Guide with some modifications:

We use define guards with a naming similar to Java package names.

For example, lets look at the class Block using the following source files:

• include/control/Block.hpp
• src/control/Block.cpp

In Java the class Block would be located in the package org.eeros.control. Considering this our define guard in the header file looks like this:

#ifndef ORG_EEROS_CONTROL_BLOCK_HPP_
#define ORG_EEROS_CONTROL_BLOCK_HPP_
 
...
 
#endif  // ORG_EEROS_CONTROL_BLOCK_HPP_

• File names
  • File names should be the same as the class name. For example, for the class ExampleClass the header file is ExampleClass.hpp and the source file ExampleClass.cpp
  • If there is more then one class defined in a single file, we use the module name for the file name. A module name always starts with a small letter (e.g. exampleModule.cpp)
• File extensions
  • C++ Source Code: use .cpp
  • C++ Headerfiles: use .hpp

General guidelines for variable names are as follows:

• Always start with lower case
• No underscores between words in a variable name
• No underscores at the beginning or end of member variables
• No m_ prefix for member variables
• No p_ prefix for private variables
• Constants begin with a lowercase k (e.g. kGain)
• Pointers start with a lowercase p (e.g. pLength) except when:
  • It is an Array
  • It is a c - String

Examples:

tableName    -> OK
tablename    -> OK, but tableName is better
table_name   -> Wrong
_tableName   -> Wrong
m_tableName  -> Wrong
tableName_   -> Wrong

• The documentation of the code is done with Doxygen.
• The code is documented in the declaration, never in the definition.
• Whenever possible the definition should be separated from the declaration.
• Templates have to be defined directly in the hpp-file. In that case, the documentation will be added there.