Coding Standards

Study this program or practically any of the demo programs which adhere to the Coding Standards

When a programmer works or studies in an institution, he or she must work closely with others. Often, programmers work on team assignments. Therefore, the code that one programmer writes must be consistent with the code written by others around him or her. Following the institution's coding standards is essential. Therefore you must follow these guidelines for every program assignment even if examples in the textbook or from the lecture notes are not consistent.

1. Type blank spaces around operators of all kinds. Blank spaces should be used to improve the readability of the program. Always surround binary operators such as assignment operator, plus symbols, etc. with blank spaces.
   
   Example:
   
   Instead of    cout<<sum<<endl;    use        cout << sum << endl;
   Instead of    totalBookPrice=numBooks*PRICE_PER_BOOK;    use      totalBookPrice = numBooks * PRICE_PER_BOOK;  

2. Use consistent and conventional levels of indentation, especially with regard to structures like if statements, loops, functions, etc.

3. Line up inline comments when they appear to the right of executable code such as variable declaration statements.

4. Add blank lines above and below structures such as if statements, loops, functions, etc.

5. Tabs and blank lines should be used to separate the program into logical and functional parts.

6. If your program uses functions include function prototypes above the main function and place the function definitions (i.e. the bodies of the functions) below the main function.
   
   
7. Declare variables at the beginning of the function in which they are used. Do not declare multiple variables in the same declaration statement even though the compiler allows it. That is, do not use
   
   int numBooks, bookSubtotal;
   or
   int numBooks = 0, bookSubtotal = 0;
   
   Rather, you should use
   
   int numBooks = 0;       // quantity of books purchased by customer
   int bookSubtotal = 0;   // subtotal price of books purchased      
   
   
8. Use perfect grammar throughout your code, comments, and displayed output.
   
   
9. Make sure that spelling is perfect throughout your code, comments, and displayed output.
   
   
10. When you obtain user input, make sure that the input cursor stays on the same line as the output prompt (if possible and when appropriate.) It is best to use a colon (:) and a space to separate the input prompt from the user's actual input. For example, use a prompt statement like this:
    
    cout << "Enter number of books: ";
    cin >> numBooks;
    
    with no endl after the cout statement.
    
    
11. The return type for the main function should be expressly set to int, even though int is the default return type. Make sure that zero is the value that is returned by the main function, too. That is, you must use the main function header:
    
    int main()
    
    and the statements
    
    system("pause");
    return 0;
    
    should be the last two statements in the main function.
    
    
12. One-line if statements are not allowed. Also, the body of an if statement or each of its else if or else clauses must be placed in curly braces. The opening curly brace must be placed on the line below the keyword if and its control expression. For example,
    
    if (num > 0)
    {
       cout << num << " is greater than zero" << endl;
    }
    
    is proper. The following if statements do not follow these Coding Standards:
    
    if (num > 0) cout << num << " is greater than zero" << endl;
    
    or
    
    if (num > 0)
        cout << num << " is greater than zero" << endl;
    
    or
    
    if (num > 0) {
       cout << num << " is greater than zero" << endl;
    }
    
    or
    
    if (num > 0)
    { cout << num << " is greater than zero" << endl; }
    
    
    
13. Curly braces must be used to bracket the bodies of for, while, and do while loops, even loops with only one body statement. The opening curly brace must be placed on the line after the loop's keyword and the closing curly brace should be placed on its own line of code except for do while loops. Follow these samples for proper style:
    
    for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    {
       cout << i << endl;
    }
    
    while (num < 10)
    {
       num++;
       cout << num << endl;
    }
    
    do
    {
       num++;
       cout << num << endl;
    } while (num < 10);
    
    
14. Use Courier or New Courier font for all printed source code.

    Print your program from within the Visual C++ software. To avoid formatting mistakes, do not print your program from Angel or Microsoft Word.
    
    
15. Do not add extra prompt messages or extra    system("pause");    commands (except for the one at the end of the program as described below) asking the user if he would like to continue or exit a program. Only add the exact prompt messages that are described in the assignment specifications. For example, if the program specs only call for allowing the user to type one input then do not prompt the user asking if he'd like to type a second input. Also, do not use a clear screen command ( such as    system("cls");    ) to clear the screen at any point during your program's execution.
    
    
16. Be sure to add the

    system("pause");      

    statement just before the main function's return 0; statement as in:
    
    
       system("pause");
       return 0;
    }// end of main