This is the oscar HACKING file. It details the current coding style that is being used in this plugin. Thanks to Scott Wheeler for providing the skeleton I based this file on ================================================================================ Code Documentation ================================================================================ Please add doxygen comments to the header files where appropriate. I don't expect anyone to add comments for functions that they're overriding from the base class but comments everywhere would be good. Please comment parts of the code that might be unclear, need more thinking about, reimplementing, etc. It will help people look for things to do if they want to help out. Please don't remove the kdDebug lines from any of the source files. If they're excessive, either wrap them in an ifdef and put the ifdef in the soon to be created oscardebug.h file so that they can be enabled and disabled at the will of other developers or users. I also tend to use kdDebug statements to document my code in the place of comments for the simpler sections. ================================================================================ Indentation ================================================================================ I use tabs to indent everything. When I say tabs, I mean the 'tab' character. Please don't use 8 spaces to indent. Just hit the 'tab' key, and make sure that space indentation is turned off in whatever editor you use. However, the exception to the indentation rule is anything that's inside of a namespace block should not be indented. static void foo() { if ( bar() ) <-- 1 tab baz(); <-- 2 tabs } namespace { class Foo { Q_OBJECT public: Foo(); ~Foo(); }; } vim or kate modelines that modify the way tabs are displayed are encouraged, as long as they don't actually change the way tabs are saved to a file. ================================================================================ Braces ================================================================================ Braces opening classes, structs, namespaces, functions, and conditionals should be on their own line. Here's an example: class Foo { // stuff }; if ( foo == bar ) { // stuff } while ( foo == bar && baz == quux && flop == pop ) { // stuff } static void foo() { // stuff } Also conditionals / loops that only contiain one line in their body (but where the conditional statement fits onto one line) should omit braces: if ( foo == bar ) baz(); But: if ( baz == quux && ralf == spot ) { bar(); } ================================================================================ Spaces ================================================================================ Spaces should be used between the conditional / loop type and the conditional statement. They should also not be used after tqparenthesis. However the should be to mark of mathematical or comparative operators. if ( foo == bar ) ^ ^ ^ is correct. However: if(foo == bar) is not. ================================================================================ Header Organization ================================================================================ Member variables should always be private and prefixed with "m_". Accessors may not be inline in the headers. The organization of the members in a class should be roughly as follows: public: public Q_SLOTS: protected: protected Q_SLOTS: Q_SIGNALS: private: // member funtions private Q_SLOTS: private: // member variables If there are no private Q_SLOTS there is no need for two private sections, however private functions and private variables should be clearly separated. The implementations files -- .cpp files -- should follow (when possible) the same order of function declarations as the header files. Virtual functions should always be marked as such even in derived classes where it is not strictly necessary. ================================================================================ Whitespace ================================================================================ Whitespace should be used liberally. When blocks of code are logically distinct I tend to put a blank line between them. This is difficult to explain systematically but after looking a bit at the current code organization this ideally will be somewhat clear. Parenthesis should be padded by spaces on one side. This is easier to illustrate in an example: void Client::foo() //correct void Client::foo3( int, int, int ) //correct void Client::foo(int, int, int) //incorrect void Client::foo(int,int,int) //also incorrect Operators should be padded by spaces in conditionals. Again, more examples to illustrate if (foo==bar) m+=(n*2)-3; should be: if ( foo == bar ) m += ( n * 2 ) - 3; ================================================================================ Pointer and Reference Operators ================================================================================ This one is pretty simple. I prefer "Foo* f" to "Foo *f" in function signatures and declarations. The same goes for "Foo& f" over "Foo &f". ================================================================================ There are likely things missing here and I'll try to add them over time as I notice things that are often missed. Please let me know if specific points are ambiguous. Also, please note that since this library is based heavily off of Kopete's libgroupwise library that the coding style in certain files may not match what's written in this document. Those files that don't match will be corrected eventually. To make things easier on you, kate modelines are provided at the end of certain files to help enforce the coding style. If you're using the new C S&S Indenter that will be in KDE 3.4, I can provide a patch that will automatically implement the space padding around tqparenthesis. Please mail me so I can send it to you. Matt Rogers