C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices

C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices

Chapter 0. Don't sweat the small stuff. (Or: Know what not to standardize.)
Chapter 1. Compile cleanly at high warning levels
Chapter 2. Use an automated build system
Chapter 3. Use a version control system
Chapter 4. Invest in code reviews
Chapter 5. Give one entity one cohesive responsibility
Chapter 6. Correctness, simplicity, and clarity come first
Chapter 7. Know when and how to code for scalability
Chapter 8. Don't optimize prematurely
Chapter 9. Don't pessimize prematurely
Chapter 10. Minimize global and shared data
Chapter 11. Hide information
Chapter 12. Know when and how to code for concurrency
Chapter 13. Ensure resources are owned by objects. Use explicit RAII and smart pointers
Chapter 14. Prefer compile- and link-time errors to run-time errors
Chapter 15. Use const proactively
Chapter 16. Avoid macros
Chapter 17. Avoid magic numbers
Chapter 18. Declare variables as locally as possible
Chapter 19. Always initialize variables
Chapter 20. Avoid long functions. Avoid deep nesting
Chapter 21. Avoid initialization dependencies across compilation units
Chapter 22. Minimize definitional dependencies. Avoid cyclic dependencies
Chapter 23. Make header files self-sufficient
Chapter 24. Always write internal #include guards. Never write external #include guards
Chapter 25. Take parameters appropriately by value, (smart) pointer, or reference
Chapter 26. Preserve natural semantics for overloaded operators
Chapter 27. Prefer the canonical forms of arithmetic and assignment operators
Chapter 28. Prefer the canonical form of ++ and --. Prefer calling the prefix forms
Chapter 29. Consider overloading to avoid implicit type conversions
Chapter 30. Avoid overloading &&, ||, or , (comma)
Chapter 31. Don't write code that depends on the order of evaluation of function arguments
Chapter 32. Be clear what kind of class you're writing
Chapter 33. Prefer minimal classes to monolithic classes
Chapter 34. Prefer composition to inheritance
Chapter 35. Avoid inheriting from classes that were not designed to be base classes
Chapter 36. Prefer providing abstract interfaces
Chapter 37. Public inheritance is substitutability. Inherit, not to reuse, but to be reused
Chapter 38. Practice safe overriding
Chapter 39. Consider making virtual functions nonpublic, and public functions nonvirtual
Chapter 40. Avoid providing implicit conversions
Chapter 41. Make data members private, except in behaviorless aggregates (C-style structs)
Chapter 42. Don't give away your internals
Chapter 43. Pimpl judiciously
Chapter 44. Prefer writing nonmember nonfriend functions
Chapter 45. Always provide new and delete together
Chapter 46. If you provide any class-specific new, provide all of the standard forms (plain, in-place, and nothrow)
Chapter 47. Define and initialize member variables in the same order
Chapter 48. Prefer initialization to assignment in constructors
Chapter 49. Avoid calling virtual functions in constructors and destructors
Chapter 50. Make base class destructors public and virtual, or protected and nonvirtual
Chapter 51. Destructors, deallocation, and swap never fail
Chapter 52. Copy and destroy consistently
Chapter 53. Explicitly enable or disable copying
Chapter 54. Avoid slicing. Consider Clone instead of copying in base classes
Chapter 55. Prefer the canonical form of assignment
Chapter 56. Whenever it makes sense, provide a no-fail swap (and provide it correctly)
Chapter 57. Keep a type and its nonmember function interface in the same namespace
Chapter 58. Keep types and functions in separate namespaces unless they're specifically intended to work together
Chapter 59. Don't write namespace usings in a header file or before an #include
Chapter 60. Avoid allocating and deallocating memory in different modules
Chapter 61. Don't define entities with linkage in a header file
Chapter 62. Don't allow exceptions to propagate across module boundaries
Chapter 63. Use sufficiently portable types in a module's interface
Chapter 64. Blend static and dynamic polymorphism judiciously
Chapter 65. Customize intentionally and explicitly
Chapter 66. Don't specialize function templates
Chapter 67. Don't write unintentionally nongeneric code
Chapter 68. Assert liberally to document internal assumptions and invariants
Chapter 69. Establish a rational error handling policy, and follow it strictly
Chapter 70. Distinguish between errors and non-errors
Chapter 71. Design and write error-safe code
Chapter 72. Prefer to use exceptions to report errors
Chapter 73. Throw by value, catch by reference
Chapter 74. Report, handle, and translate errors appropriately
Chapter 75. Avoid exception specifications
Chapter 76. Use vector by default. Otherwise, choose an appropriate container
Chapter 77. Use vector and string instead of arrays
Chapter 78. Use vector (and string::c_str) to exchange data with non-C++ APIs
Chapter 79. Store only values and smart pointers in containers
Chapter 80. Prefer push_back to other ways of expanding a sequence
Chapter 81. Prefer range operations to single-element operations
Chapter 82. Use the accepted idioms to really shrink capacity and really erase elements
Chapter 83. Use a checked STL implementation
Chapter 84. Prefer algorithm calls to handwritten loops
Chapter 85. Use the right STL search algorithm
Chapter 86. Use the right STL sort algorithm
Chapter 87. Make predicates pure functions
Chapter 88. Prefer function objects over functions as algorithm and comparer arguments
Chapter 89. Write function objects correctly
Chapter 90. Avoid type switching; prefer polymorphism
Chapter 91. Rely on types, not on representations
Chapter 92. Avoid using reinterpret_cast
Chapter 93. Avoid using static_cast on pointers
Chapter 94. Avoid casting away const
Chapter 95. Don't use C-style casts
Chapter 96. Don't memcpy or memcmp non-PODs
Chapter 97. Don't use unions to reinterpret representation
Chapter 98. Don't use varargs (ellipsis)
Chapter 99. Don't use invalid objects. Don't use unsafe functions
Chapter 100. Don't treat arrays polymorphically