Coding standards

[racheldijkstra]

Indentation

• Use 4 spaces per indentation level.
• Avoid tabs.

  Maximum Line Length

• Limit all lines to a maximum of 79 characters for code, and 72 for docstrings and comments.

  Imports

• Imports should usually be on separate lines.

Imports should be grouped in the following order:

1. Standard library imports.
2. Related third-party imports.
3. Local application/library specific imports.

   Whitespace

   Avoid extraneous whitespace in the following situations:

   • Immediately inside parentheses, brackets, or braces.
   • Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.
   • Immediately before the open parenthesis that starts the argument list of a function call.

     Comments

   • Comments should be complete sentences and should be used sparingly.
   • Comments should be used to explain why something is done, not what the code does (the code should be self-explanatory).
   • Use docstrings to document classes and functions.

     Naming Conventions

   • Variables: Use lowercase with underscores (snake_case).
   • Constants: Use all uppercase with underscores (UPPER_CASE).
   • Functions and Methods: Use lowercase with underscores (snake_case).
   • Classes: Use CamelCase (CapitalizedWords).

     Function and Method Arguments

   • Avoid using mutable types (like lists or dictionaries) as default values for function or method arguments.
   • Use *args and **kwargs for variable numbers of arguments.

     Exceptions

   • When catching exceptions, be as specific as possible.
   • Avoid using a bare except: clause.

     Class Definitions

   • Separate methods in a class with one blank line.
   • Use a blank line between the class header and the first method.

     Other Recommendations

   • Use built-in functions and libraries whenever possible.
   • Avoid extraneous whitespace at the end of lines.
   • Follow the principle of least astonishment.