nethack/DEVEL/code_style.txt

NetHack DevTeam Coding Style
============================

NetHack is written in C, with a little bit of C++ to access platform
libraries. This coding style document is concerned primarily with the style
used for C source files. We do not have a defined style for C++ files, but C++
should be styled in keeping with C.

The code base in C files was, close to the 3.6 release, reformatted using a
version of the clang-format tool patched to support K&R-style argument
declarations. Due to some incompatibilities, the patch is not publicly
available and clang-format is not expected to be regularly used.

Developers should do their best to adhere to the coding style to promote
legibile, easy-to-edit code. Legibility is paramount, so in some cases, it may
be better not to fully adhere to the style guidelines.

Recipes for common text editors can be found at the end of this file.

Indentation and Spacing
-----------------------

The basic indentation is 4 spaces wide. All indentation is done using space
characters, not tabs.

Lines should be at most 78 characters wide. If a line would be longer than the
limit, the line should be wrapped and the wrapped portion should be aligned
with the parentheses or brackets containing the wrap. If there is no set of
parenthese or brackets, the line should be indented four spaces. Wrapping
should normally occur after a comma or before a binary operator, when
possible:

    int index
        = SomeExcessivelyLongExpression;

    fcall(arg1,
          arg2, (cond13
                 && cond2));

Single blank lines should be used wherever convenient to improve readability.

Functions and Control Satements
-------------------------------

For a function definition, the return type, declarator, and opening brace
should each appear on a line of their own. Arguments are never declared in the
function declarator, but are declared, unintended, K&R-style before the
opening brace:

    void
    foo(i, c)
    int i;
    char c;
    {
        /* function body */
    }

Opening braces of control statements appear on the same line as the control
statement:

    if (condition) {
        /* body */
    }

Else statements and the while statements of do-while blocks appear on the same
line as the closing brace of the if or do statement. Otherwise, closing braces
always get a line of their own.

    if (condition) {
        /* body */
    } else if (condition) {
        do {
            /* body */
        } while (condition);
    } else {
        /* body */
    }

If a control block has only a single statement, it can appear on a line of its
own, with an indent. If the statement is a null statement, then it should be
expressed as an empty set block, not with a semicolon, because many compilers
will warn if a null statement is used:

    if (condition)
        fcall();

    if (condition) {
    } else
        fcall();

If multiple control blocks are being used in a row, it may be more readable to
use braces even for single statements, and they should be used if they improve
readability. The following is an example of poor usage:

    if (condition) {
        /* long body */
    } else if (condition)
        statement;
    else {
        /* very long body */
    }

Switch statements should have the case labels unindented, and the statements
should be indented normally. The default case should occur last unless there's
a compelling reason not to, and fallthroughs should be explicitly marked as
such with a comment, to avoid Yeenoghu getting the touch of death again:

    switch (condition) {
    case FOO:
    case BAR:
        fcall();
        /* fall-through */
    case BAZ:
        fcall();
        break;

    default:
        statement;
    }

Variables should never be declared in a condition or a for loop
initialization, and if an assignment is used as a condition, it should be
wrapped in an additional set of parentheses for clarity:

    int *p;
    if ((p = fcall())) {
        /* body */
    }

    int i;
    for (i = 1; i < 10; ++i) {
        /* body */
    }

Spaces in Expressions
---------------------

Spaces should appear around binary operators, after commas, after a C-style
cast, and after the keyword in a control statement. They should not appear
between a function name and the opening parenthesis of a function call, nor
immediately inside a pair of parentheses:

    foo(i, j, l);
    if ((boolean) condition) {
        /* body */
    }

Vim Configuration
=================

For vim, the following settings are encouraged when editing NetHack code, to
ensure that indentation is done correctly:

    set shiftwidth=4
    set softtabstop=4
    set expandtab
    set tabstop=4
    set shiftround
    set textwidth=78
    set cindent
    set filetype=c