kakoune/doc/coding-style.asciidoc

C++ Coding Style
================

Kakoune is written in C++11, here are the main coding style points:

 * Avoid external dependencies besides posix/stdc++/ncurses

   - That means avoid depending on boost, it is only allowed for the regex
     implementation. The reference for the current regex support is available under
     http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/release/libs/regex/doc/html/boost_regex/syntax/perl_syntax.html[Perl Regular Expression Syntax].

 * 4 spaces for indentation, no tabs

 * public interface before private methods/data when defining a class

 * use +override+ keyword for overriden virtual methods

 * opening brackets on their own lines by default, except when declaring
   an object where the opening bracket follows the equal sign.

-----
int func()
{
    if (condition)
    {
        ...
    }
    else
        statement;
}

int array[] = {
...
};
-----

 * End lines with an operator when continuing on the next line

----
if (condition1 ||
    condition2)
----

 * Try to keep under 80 columns, even though this is not a strict limit.

 * CamelCase for types, snake_case for variables/function names

 * prefix fields with m_, static ones with ms_ except for dumb structs
   (struct with every field public) where these prefixes can be dropped.

 * use const and constexpr liberally

Kakrc coding style
==================

 * kak scripts can depend on tools that can be reasonable expected for
   their use context:

   - mime.kak which handles file type detection uses the +file+ command
     which is deemed ubiquitous enough.

   - clang.kak provides c++ completion using clang,

 * It is better to keep kak scripts POSIX. Consider %sh{...} blocks
   as executed by a POSIX shell. Avoid non posix extensions to common
   tools.

 * Avoid too much comlexity/logic in kak scripts. They are not meant
   to implement generic tools, only to transform a general tool output
   to Kakoune commands.

   - Write generic, editor independent tools as a separate project,
     Add kakoune support as a kak script.