Most coding standards derive at least some of their content from the Hungarian notation concept and in particular from a Microsoft white paper that documented a set of suggested naming standards. Argue whitespace issues (clang-formatauto formats brace positions and spaces) Any code you write, modify or generate should follow the coding standards. I’ve outlined some of my own personal tricks to creating neat, formatted code comments. As mentioned by you follow PEP 8 for the main text, and PEP 257 for docstring conventions. Someone will find a less-than-stellar snippet of code and use a comment to denegrate the author. Comments − C style comments (/* */) and standard C++ comments (//) are both fine. It should come as no surprise that commenting your code is essential, both solo and team projects. There is a fine line with these between doing it right, going overboard, or being too sparing with them. Code MUST follow a “coding style guide” PSR [ PSR-1 ]. Or to give an example of what didn’t work before so someone doesn’t try it again fruitlessly. In the comments above I’ve used a syntax similar to phpDocumentor where each line is preceded with a @ symbol followed by a selected key. Posted on December 23, 2020 by Will Morris in WordPress. The corrective action should be to write the code that expresses itself. And sometimes those comments reflect the developer's frustration with the code in ways that, well, should not be repeated in polite … That could help to debug better the code specially for PHP Projects. Unlimited Users. What are your tips and tricks for getting the most out of commenting your code? Note: The Drupal Coding Standards apply to code within Drupal and its contributed modules. The amount of time required to go back and figure out how something works is much larger after you’ve already built the function. Use block comments to document a small section of code. If you feel like it’s necessary to document, something like this will suffice. Avoid bugs and increase developer efficiency 5. Coding standards are collections of coding rules, guidelines, and best practices. HTML comments aren’t as purposeful compared to programming applications, but when you’re writing style libraries and page scripts things can get messy over time. They explain how your program works, and your intentions behind it. For this reason many coding standards are broadly compatible with each other. Are the images uploading and being stored in temp memory? If they don’t, however, or you are on your own, keeping this stuff in mind will not only make your job easier in the future, but will also help out anyone who comes after you, too. Built to get you more shares and more followers. But you can leave too many bad comments. This isn’t a good habit to get into. Some of the most confusing errors pop up when you forget the purpose of custom-built (or 3rd party) functions. Just make sure that you never do this. Harness the power of Divi with any WordPress theme. By Richard Bellairs. There may not be any particular standard for maintenance of comments in production source code and it is left to the discretion of the individual developer. HTML comments aren’t as purposeful compared to programming applications, but when you’re writing style libraries and page scripts things can get messy over time. In nutshell, coding standards play a vital role in any successful software development. These are not going to affect your code in any way, so you could write @description instead of @desc with no changes whatsoever. Overview. Both PHP and JavaScript have the same methods for doing single- and multi-line comments: If you’re in the trenches day in and day out, writing code and pushing to GitHub, your organization may have a style guide for comments they want you to follow. Standards and conventions used by Epic Games in the Unreal Engine 4 codebase. You will likely have to part ways with your code for the day with some features still broken. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to enjoy a better experience. It should be noted that these ideas presented are merely guidelines towards cleaner comments. Or maybe something else will come up in the future, and they try to call a function that breaks everything and brings the project to its knees. The Standard of Code Review. He is a runner, podcaster, geek, gamer and all-around geek. 1. They might even be in a giant box around it to call your attention to it. I’ve written a function presumably in JavaScript called modalPopup which takes a single parameter. In the example above you’ll notice the extra padding I’ve placed between comments and code on each line. Sample File (including Docblock Comment standards) The PEAR toolbox; The PEAR Coding Standards apply to code that is part of the official PEAR distribution. Please see the companion informational PEP describing style guidelines for the C code in the C implementation of Python .. Make sure to update comments if you change your code. One overall note: comments and names should use US English spelling (e.g., "color" not "colour"). It is common practice to count the software size (Source lines of code) to track current project progress or establish a baseline for future project estimates. I choose to keep things simple and straightforward so the stylesheets are easy to skim. First you can easily pick up where you left off and try again fresh at mind to fix the problem(s). Every program should start with a comment saying briefly what it is for. ^ Meaning, an extension or editor that has the functionality similar to an audit report or how Word tracks changes in a document? I’ve got a few preset standards which I’ve outlined below: When grouping stylesheets I’ve found the tagging system can help a lot. Along with Python Style Guides, I suggest that you refer the following: Along with proper spacing this may be one of the best habits to get into. You could alternatively add a bit of extra detail in each comment block. In this way you can quickly check where you’re editing when working on multiple pages at the same time. Header comments are useful in source code for simple explanations of what to expect in that file. In computer programming, a comment is a programmer-readable explanation or annotation in the source code of a computer program. CSS only utilizes the block-style comments delineated by a slash and asterisk. Afterwards I’ll offer some specific tips and examples which you can start using right away! Nitpick on the developer code 2. For example if you’re building an image upload page and have to leave it uncompleted, you should comment about where in the process you left off. You should remember that comments will be openly displayed to your visitors, since neither CSS nor JS is parsed server-side, but either of these methods works great for leaving informative tidbits in your code to go back over. This course follows often-used industry coding standards. It’s worth mentioning that while coding standards exist – they exist in many variations and often are merely guidelines that don’t have to be followed. The primary ones being that you’re not always going to be the one working on the project, and you can’t guarantee how experienced the next person will be. Comments don’t have any effect on your program, but they are invaluable for people reading your code. You’re totally right. These are limited to single-line content and only comment the text after a certain point. Perhaps one of the first things you learn as a developer is to comment your code. Non Functional requirements. So adding these details into the main class comment block is a good way to remember which files are needed. Now that we’ve covered 3 important comment templates, let’s look at a few other examples. In this article, we’ll be discussing in-line comments within the scripts themselves. I recommend in this scenario adding a large block-line comment around the area of logic. One overall note: comments and names should use US English spelling (e.g., "color" not "colour"). See also: PHP Documentation Standards. b. Comments should be used to give overviews of code and provide additional information … This document is a working document - it is not designed to meet the requirement that we have \"a\" coding standard but instead is an acknowledgement that we can make our lives much easier in the long term if we all agree to a common set of conventions when writing code.Inevitably, there are many places in this document where we have simply had to make a choice between two or more equally valid alternatives. Code should be well documented: The code should be properly commented for understanding easily. That is recorded in Git or other version control software, and it should be available to anyone who needs that information. Even if you think you’re being funny or that it makes you look good, it isn’t and it doesn’t. Here are few guidelines from the ‘Linux kernel coding style’: a. Tabs are 8 characters, and thus indentations are also 8 characters. We offer a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, so joining is Risk-Free! While there are some lan… Comments − C style comments (/* */) and standard C++ comments (//) are both fine. Leave a comment trail leading back to a few other files if this will help you remember functionality easier. In short examples that do not include using directives, use namespace qualifications. Provide Structureto the code 4. Even just a couple of words are better than nothing. Coding standards provide clarity to the purpose of the code. @fonts – paragraphs, headings, blockquotes, links, code, @navigation – the main core website navigation links, @header & @footer – these may vary based on your design. Syntax example: General notes on the API … “var” Is Your Friend. I have kept up with the format in a few of my projects, only on pages where I’ve customized a lot of methods. All big software companies have them. PHP # PHP Single and Double Quotes # Single and Double Quotes Java coding standards and Javadoc style comments. A neat well laid out code with optimum commenting is easy to comprehend and enhance. This document gives coding conventions for the Python code comprising the standard library in the main Python distribution. Both your future self and your teammates will thank you for leaving comments ahead of time. The individual programming languages do not set forth guidelines or specifications for how to setup your documentation. The naysayers will mention that even this kind of commentary is redundant because good naming conventions for your functions, variables, and methods will make the code readable. Often, a clarification comment is a code smell. Example: ‘fmt - filter for simple filling of text’.This comment should be at the top of the source file containing the ‘main’ function of the program. As you are scrolling through files, this style of commenting will clearly stand out. You can, however, use git to do this, where each commit and push gives you a ‘diff’ that you can check what additions and subtractions were made in green and red. It’s also a good pratice (for intellisense) to use comments decorators like : @param, @return. When going back to edit CSS I can easily find what I need in a few seconds. In particular, specifications that are lengthy are sometimes best formatted in a separate file and linked to from a doc comment. It is obtrusive and generally unhelpful. Line-by-line commentary makes the code look almost unreadable. Sometimes as developers we forget that we’re writing comments for humans to read. Block Comments. I always like opening a file and seeing @param there for me to hone in on. When you hit the Eureka moment and solve such a problem there is generally a moment in clarity where you understand your previous errors. Writing code is a lot like writing prose. B.J. Coding standards are a set of guidelines, best practices, programming styles and conventions that developers adhere to when writing source code for a project. Specifically breaking up CSS files can be a chore. Coding standards and best practices is a huge topic – one that can go on for many pages. So don’t. Coding standards help in the development of software programs that are less complex and thereby reduce the errors. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. Use complete sentences, starting with a capital letter. When you go back to edit and work on projects in the future it’s often surprising how much you’ll forget. It tells you that your code is too complex. But many developers are unaware of how to go about this process. It’s important to note that we aren’t here to write a college-level research paper, but just leaving tips! Docblock Comment standards) The PEAR toolbox; Header Comment Blocks. They make it … Indent nested code Nested code improves readability. Practically every single programming language offers inline comments. There is a not-small subset of developers who believe that commenting your code should be an exceptionally rare occasion. When the block ends, the indent returns to the previous indent level. This will give you a better idea of just how detailed you can become with project code. HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript. They are added with the purpose of making the source code easier for humans to understand, and are generally ignored by compilers and interpreters. You slowly memorize all the properties, syntax, and build your own system for stylesheets. The ultimate email opt-in plugin for WordPress. In fact, if you ever wish to read up on Java coding standards, Oracle has just that. That is true to a point, but if you’re going for keeping ambiguity to its absolute minimum, a quick comment is the way to go. Code Comments and Proper Documentation It is a good practice to comment while writing code. Keep comments inside a function body short. Descriptive blocks are most notably seen around functions and library files. Below are examples of such docblocks. We can’t all sit in front of the computer for hours writing code. Remember that comments should be used to explain why you’re doing something, not exactly what it does. Commenting is an additional tool that a developer can choose to use or not 3. And using coding standards also improves the code’s readability, maintainability, and portability. Whenever you setup a new function it is good practice to add a descriptive block above the declaration. Do not use non-standard extensions. You can see what it looks like in this screenshot: https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/000-gitdiff.png, really informative article anyone how to know basic of coding can work all on this theme. I suppose I prefer those, too, now that you mention it. If you have suggestions for clearer code commenting, do let us know in the discussion area below! There might be a VS Code extension for it, but I honestly haven’t seen one in my time of using it. Coding conventions allow to have simple scripts or programs whose job is to process source code for some purpose other than compiling it into an executable. Plus, whenever the documentation changes, you have to change it in that file. Thus you can never leave too many comments! I honestly didn’t even think of that being any different as a typical header because I’m so used to seeing it, haha. It’s a balance you have to just learn over time, but there are some pretty good rules of thumb to consider. Drupal coding standards are version-independent and "always-current". Stuff like this in a CSS file, for instance, where the readable code is broken up by comments that are ignored by the processors. 5.2 Commenting Your Work. This made commenting your code more useful than ever. Write comments and documentation. 5.2 Commenting Your Work. Do not, however, provide a comprehensive list of dates on which the file was altered and new versions published. There are pre-formatted comment templates used in about every area of programming. These are usually a couple of lines written above or beside Java code to clarify what it does. This makes things prettier rather than run-on paragraphs – especially for others reading your comments. PSR-12 is now recommended as an alternative. Coding Style Guide. Doc comments are meant to describe the specification of the code, from an implementation-free perspective. Keep the following points in mind when writing PHP code for WordPress, whether for core programming code, plugins, or themes. Follow the Boy Scout Rule The intent of this guide is to reduce cognitive friction when scanning code from different authors. That way, whoever comes next to the project will have a clear path to understanding and improving/fixing our code. Consistency 2. Naming Conventions ... Block comments are a region of code (the "block") used to describe another region of code such as files and functions. Making sure that use the right characters for the comments is imperative. Keeton in WordPress. The API module parses documentation and code in PHP files, and it expects documentation to be in a format similar to other code/documentation parsing systems such as PHPDoc, JavaDoc, etc. Sometimes the obvious solution to a problem doesn’t actually solve the problem. It really does take a lot of work. Application of these standards and practices also varies by application – whether you are working on a huge corporate project or helping your little brother with homework. For instance, this is a script that comes with a game development engine called RPG Maker, and the core JS file that controls each game scene begins like this: Additionally, note that the version number is listed at the very top. PHP and HTML and JavaScript and C# all have slightly different symbols that begin and end code. I cannot stress enough how important whitespace can be. The very top area of your page should hold comments regarding the file itself. Every person does it a little differently, and because of that, we all have a distinct voice when our code is read. Here, we explain why adherence to coding standards is important and how to enforce coding standards. Documentation comments are intended for anyone who is likely to consume your source code, but not likely to read through it. ?> shorthand. When you’re building many features into the same application, things tend to get complicated. Do not do line-by-line comments. General Coding Standards DATE POLICY # REV PAGE # 2/19/03 1 7 AUTHOR(s): APPROVED: Revised: Standards Group SEPG • An “identifier” is the generic term referring to a name for any constant, variable, or program unit. Comments are part of codeI believe most people would immediately agree with the first item, while others need deeper dive. Comments having a special form can be used to direct a tool to produce XML from those comments and the source code elements, which they precede. Therefore, dynamic pricing is a fantastic way to build... hi, good post, i however personnaly dislike inline comment and rather like the multi lines comments. • A “module” is a collection of “units” that work on a common domain. Using the right one will help you write cleaner code. Hongkiat.com (HKDC). That's why it's important to use automated static analysis. The perfect theme for bloggers and online-publications. Consider this example: The comments I added at the function definition can be previewed whenever I use that function, even from other files. This guide extends and expands on PSR-1, the basic coding standard. Code review can have an important function of teaching developers something newabout a language, a framework, or general software design principles. I suppose we can try, but at some point we need to sleep! Introductory-level programming courses teach students to comment early and comment often. Everyone who has run a WordPress website for any amount of time has their own set of “must have” plugins that gets installed before doing anything else. In general, if you can't find anything specific to point out, either the code is perfect (almost never true) or you missed something. We have different naming conventions and different problem-solving logic. While there are some language-specific practices, too, there are more shared than not. Such comments are single-line comments that start with three slashes (///), or delimited comments that start with a slash and two stars (/**). These small keys are actually called comment tags which are documented heavily on the website. Let’s delve into creating style groups before touching upon some detailed tips for code commenting. If you agree with the change, then don’t leave the code commented out in your program, as it decreases readability. The C++ version targeted by this guide will advance (aggressively) over time. Typically developers will get stuck on a problem and scour the web for the easiest solution. Principle #1 The first and foremost principle of a good review is this: if you commit to review code, review it thoroughly! Coding standards are a set of guidelines, best practices, programming styles and conventions that developers adhere to when writing source code for a project. Deprecated - As of 2019-08-10 PSR-2 has been marked as deprecated. A well-defined coding standard improves code quality, and adopting a coding standard is simple. Anything that you would put in that file should be put into your documentation anyway. Commenting errors is important for two main reasons. .code here { Here we explain why coding standards are important, so consider this your guide to finding and using coding rules and guidelines. If you are working with a lot of parameters or function calls you may place a slew of inline comments nearby. A coding standards document tells developers how they must write their code. Be sure to read the code, don't just skim it, and apply thought to both the code and its style.. Using?var is actually a good idea for all those short-lived variables. "In python do you generally use PEP 8 -- Style Guide for Python Code as your coding standards/guidelines? Development for web apps and software is a fulfilling practice, albeit a difficult one. After “translating” the comments to code, remember to remove any comments that have become redundant so that your code stays crisp and clean. In this scenario it is crucial that you leave long, detailed comments about where you left things off. They must immediately precede a user-defined type (such as a class, delegate, or interface) or a member (such as a field, event, property, or method) that they annotate. In the standard library, non-default encodings should be used only for test purposes or when a comment or docstring needs to mention an author name that contains non-ASCII characters; otherwise, using \x, \u, \U, or \N escapes is the preferred way to include non-ASCII data in string literals. This is because anyone can understand it and can modify it at any point in time. Additionally this will give you practice to getting used to commenting all of your files. Formatting Conventions. If you have to, do it before or after the function. This course follows often-used industry coding standards. Goals 1. This page describes the general JavaScript code conventions used by W3Schools. INLINE_SOURCES = NO # Setting the STRIP_CODE_COMMENTS tag to YES (the default) will instruct # doxygen to hide any special comment blocks from generated source code # fragments. Does anyone know of a code editor or even an extension that track changes? The limit on the length of lines is 80 … PHP Code Tags − Always use to delimit PHP code, not the Setting Up Your Production Pipeline > Development Setup > Coding Standard Coding Standard Are there any other formalized standards that you prefer?" To combat this, we all need to get better at source code commenting. Journal comments Git is a journal … The indentation should not be that of a tab. The first comment is inline to explain why we are hiding all the .sub classes. This document goes a little further than most in some areas; however it is likely that these extensions will … It was originally based on Doxygen, but it has evolved into something that has its own set of tags and a lot of Drupal-specific functionality. These plugins are the backbone of their workflow and content strategy, but if you haven’t been using WordPress long enough to... Posted on December 20, 2020 by Will Morris in WordPress. Article featured image by Skillup / shutterstock.com. Notice that the specification does not need to be entirely contained in doc comments. More than that should go into the documentation. Normal C and C++ comments will always remain visible. The indentation should not be that of a tab. Note: The Drupal Coding Standards apply to code within Drupal and its contributed modules. I’ve added some meta information with my name and email address for contact. Through my own work I have created what I call grouping to pair similar CSS blocks into one area. Let’s now discuss some overall tips to keeping your code clean, organized, and easy to understand. We all think our code makes sense — especially if it works — but someone else might not. Every program should start with a comment saying briefly what it is for. Standards and comment templates will vary between developers – but ultimately you should strive towards clean and readable comments to further explain confusing areas in your code. Unreal Engine 4 Documentation > Setting Up Your Production Pipeline > Development Setup > Coding Standard Coding Standard Posted on April 3, 2019 by B.J. Additionally, the end user is likely never going to get into your source code, so the comment would only be seen by other developers (or hardcore users of the software who already know the documentation). 1.6 References a. The most common type of source code comment is the in-line comment. Attribute sections (Attribute specification) are cons… Thanks for sharing about how to comment your code. The Solution: a Coding Standards Document. Also, it is likely other people will become developers on your package at some point in the future. Docblock Comment standards) The PEAR toolbox; Sample File (including Docblock Comment standards) The source code of PEAR packages are read by thousands of people. It’s easy to go all-out and write solid documentation for every file in your website – we can see this practice in many CMS such as WordPress. Optimize for code reviewers and readers rather than code developers Non-Goals 1. Java coding standards and Javadoc style comments. Every time that you open a bracket you should indent the code written after it. Possible styles include links and unordered lists, footer columns, headings, sub-navs. Stuff like this in a CSS file, for instance, where the readable code is broken up by comments that are ignored by the processors. All new code should follow the current standards, regardless of … Most programmers agree that coding standards are important. My method for CSS is as follows: /*SLIDER MODULE STYLING This comment should be at the top of the source file containing the ‘main’ function of the program. Length of functions should not be very large: Lengthy functions are very difficult to understand. JavaScript follows a more traditional method of commenting similar to Java, PHP, and C/C++. Otherwise it would all be caught on the same comment line! Comments (GNU Coding Standards) Next: Syntactic Conventions, Previous: Formatting, Up: Writing C . It’s good to mention that commenting each single line of code, does the contrary of helping to understand the code. Indent nested code Nested code improves readability. If you are building a library or framework that other developers will use, you need some form of API documentation.The further removed from the source code your API documentation is, the more likely it is to become outdated or inaccurate over time. Most of us don’t even want to go back and document the confusing areas! The World's #1 WordPress Theme & Visual Page Builder. JavaScript follows a more traditional method of commenting similar to Java, PHP, and C/C++. 1. The indentation should continue until the bracket is closed. It is very important for the programmers to maintain the coding standards otherwise the code will be rejected during code review. In these cases, developers who come to a project later in development may look at a file and consider refactoring it take in that obvious solution. Code commenting is the practice of sprinkling short, normally single-line notes throughout your code. The key words “MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”, “SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, and “OPTIONAL” in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119. This document is loosely based on the PEAR Coding standards. Generally, code comments are "implementation" comments that explain the source code, such as descriptions of classes, interfaces, methods, and fields. I have seen this happen before, especially in open-source projects that weren’t moderated terribly well.