C style

[ link: c-style | tags: code linux c | updated: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 10:20:54 ]

A new comer to my place of work was asking me how he can improve his code style. Here are some suggestions I had for him.

try to keep lines no wider then 80 columns

Compilers don't care, but according to what was taught in my psychology class people get best reading performance when there are 60 characters per line.

Also when you print, code is most legible if the code is 80 char's accross.
keep nesting to a minimum...

Again, compilers don't care, but it again helps legibility.

It's hard to keep in your brain what code is doing if you nest more then 3-4 times.

If you need to nest more then 3 times (ie you've tabbed in 4 times) then you really need a function to capture some of the functionality.

Starting a new function has an instant benefit of being self documenting because you capture the name -- which should give away what the function does -- and also you provide the lift of inputs and outputs by the means of the arguments and return.

It also helps code reuse as you can use that same function from multiple places. You should rarely need to copy-and-paste code.
try to keep functions short...

This goes with the above. The less you nest, the less you need to cram into functions.

It was recommended to me that the entire function should fit on a screen. Say 50 lines. I don't always make it, but I try.

vim can do some of this for you. In particular it can warn that a line is too long.

    set textwidth=78          " Set the line wrap length
    match Error80 /\%>80v.\+/ " highlight anything past 80 in red

    if has("gui_running")
        hi Error80   gui=NONE   guifg=#ffffff   guibg=#6e2e2e
    else
        exec "hi Error80   cterm=NONE   ctermfg=" . <SID>X(79) . " ctermbg=" . <SID>X(32)
    endif

See my vimrc, c.vim, and my_inkpot.vim (my colour scheme).

Bart's Blog

About

I am an embedded Linux software developer and consultant operating under Jukie Networks Inc in Ottawa, Canada.

Tags

abiword adam android apt asm ata audio bacula bash bios board-game boot bug busybox bzr c code conference debian debug desktop devel disk dns dpkg dream email embedded firefox font fs fun g1 gdb geode git git scm git-find git-graft go google gpg grub hardware html hw inkscape ion3 ipsec ipv6 ipv6summit.ca irc irssi joke kdb kernel klips kqemu kvm laptop lastfm ldap lighttpd linux lua lvm mail make mercurial meta mmc mouse-free mp3 mpd music mutt net nexusone nfs oclug ogre ols oom OOo openswan opteron osx ottawa perl photography power pxe qemu raid redhat rogers ruby sata sbc scm screen script scsi security sheeva shell skype spam squid ssd ssh suse svn tags talk thinkpad ubuntu uml unix urxvt usb uzbl vi video vim vimgit virt vpn vserver web weechat wifi wind wmii wmiirc-lua work x x86 x86emu xen xen-box-setup xfs xterm zsh

Posts

[ 20130409092758 ]
automount mmcblk devices

[ 20130316190507 ]
tunnelbroker vs IRC

[ 20110616180255 ]
HDD -> SDD

[ 20110517204617 ]
how to manually create a 6in4 tunnel

[ 20110501202915 ]
Presentation slides published!

[ 20110320190458 ]
What is IPv6, and why should I care?

[ 20110309230106 ]
Ottawa IPv6 Summit 2011

[ 20110309225149 ]
I am now an IPv6 Sage

[ 20101214145558 ]
It's a Holiday Miracle

[ 20101103095130 ]
ipv6 on your desktop in 2 steps

[ 20101020113026 ]
growing a live LVM volume

[ 20100915175649 ]
distributing DNS list through radvd

[ 20100908173402 ]
Canadian ipv6 drought

[ 20100903190623 ]
ipv6 certification

[ 20100723192259 ]
m4a to mp3

[ 20100723134522 ]
git 1.7.2 is out

[ 20100523092001 ]
console=ttyS0 with grub2

[ 20100426162644 ]
How many times is my function used within an executable?

[ 20100412100135 ]
vmlinux on Ubuntu

[ 20100328152951 ]
where your WIND coverage ends

[ 20100326113354 ]
Nexus One live in Ottawa on WIND Mobile

[ 20100311133411 ]
the WIND excitement

[ 20100302160743 ]
sata hotswap pico-HOWTO

[ 20100227093435 ]
serving http content out of a git repo

[ 20100225104049 ]
pimped out zsh prompt

[ 20100221184126 ]
live termcasting of your terminal over telnet

[ 20100215083725 ]
Debian on UBIFS upgrade on SheevaPlug

[ 20100214205532 ]
nexus one

[ 20100130150527 ]
skype on Debian Linux (64bit)

[ 20100125191021 ]
I am so peeved at Rogers

[ 20091205130455 ]
running really nice

[ 20091120225902 ]
notmuch for vim

[ 20091113102221 ]
squid and apt

[ 20091104195344 ]
using WIP branches to save every edit

[ 20091104194146 ]
using git workflows to avoid loosing intermediate changes

[ 20091019183503 ]
reflections on ACM Reflections

[ 20091013174248 ]
bacula rejected Hello command

[ 20091007235046 ]
pimping out git log

[ 20091002094400 ]
virtualization primer

[ 20090922110756 ]
adding an external encrypted volume under Debian

[ 20090905112529 ]
the dreaded process of rooting Rogers Dream

[ 20090830174551 ]
Cyanogen's recipe for Cupcake/Donut-like pastry

[ 20090827100232 ]
simpler android rooting

[ 20090821095427 ]
androids don't like water

[ 20090820215358 ]
prettier function tracing

[ 20090816151854 ]
Baking a cupcake

[ 20090814131559 ]
Hello Android!

[ 20090813100025 ]
sim unlocking a G1

[ 20090731185522 ]
rooting the droid

[ 20090727210307 ]
getting into android

[ 20090714094340 ]
importing an old project into git

[ 20090702113222 ]
Why pick Git?

[ 20090628131255 ]
select loop for X events

[ 20090625181315 ]
portable printf

[ 20090623225800 ]
switching to uzbl

[ 20090622223147 ]
Linux Symposium

[ 20090622214023 ]
bringing git-format-patch to bzr

[ 20090612215638 ]
nfs local caching with fscache and cachefilesd on Lenny

[ 20090610202041 ]
Scott Chacon smacks git around

[ 20090610150039 ]
how would you read a file into an array of lines

[ 20090609215141 ]
libguestfs

[ 20090609000208 ]
tiding up the PATH

[ 20090608232531 ]
only showing relevant messages in mutt by default

[ 20090608010405 ]
git-vim hacking

[ 20090530223801 ]
mark-yank-urls: fix bug allowing shell to interpret the url

[ 20090509212648 ]
wmiirc-lua v0.2.8 release

[ 20090509113125 ]
wmiirc-lua moving to github

[ 20090504101605 ]
two terminals one PWD

[ 20090501172645 ]
splitting files out of a commit

[ 20090409155905 ]
git workflow: git amend

[ 20090401112030 ]
how old are these files in git?

[ 20090330181138 ]
sles 11 on kvm

[ 20090323194942 ]
android true type font

[ 20090322203939 ]
popen with stdin, stdout, and stderr

[ 20090320214228 ]
shrinking URLs

[ 20090304004744 ]
readlater

[ 20081112150409 ]
splitting patches with git

[ 20081011081638 ]
creating busybox symlinks

[ 20081002215121 ]
wmiirc-lua v0.2.5 release

[ 20080916155113 ]
git-svn strangeness

[ 20080915112959 ]
installing git man pages quickly

[ 20080913112345 ]
wmiirc-lua v0.2.4 release

[ 20080825100454 ]
Kernel Walkthroughs - booting

[ 20080813210205 ]
Linux Kernel Booting

[ 20080719211329 ]
printable OLS/2008 schedule

[ 20080715214447 ]
wmiirc-lua updates

[ 20080713194704 ]
Git Screencast

[ 20080713143429 ]
four steps to reproducible Debian installs

[ 20080705150651 ]
USB2.0 enclosure benchmark

[ 20080703230924 ]
Linux Kernel Walkthroughs posted

[ 20080702113602 ]
Introducing the Ottawa Ruby folks to Git

[ 20080628160732 ]
Authenticating Linux against OSX LDAP directory

[ 20080627142123 ]
Canada Day Events 2008

[ 20080613162541 ]
Linux Kernel Walkthroughs

[ 20080510083828 ]
is my usb device connected to a fast port?

[ 20080509111534 ]
show more git info on zsh prompt

[ 20080430104202 ]
git-vim

[ 20080412100337 ]
color your word

[ 20080404105620 ]
show current git branch on zsh prompt (2)

[ 20080303200359 ]
how to track multiple svn branches in git

[ 20080301134220 ]
fixing X for GeodeLX

[ 20080108002540 ]
kvm nfs hang

[ 20080107160836 ]
screen -c relative path bug

[ 20080105132854 ]
WeeChat spell suggestions

[ 20071219221358 ]
show current git branch in zsh

[ 20071217141037 ]
wmiirc-lua kitchen sink repository

[ 20071212100316 ]
protecting sshd from OOM killer

[ 20071204234232 ]
wmiirc-lua v0.2.1 remembers a bit more

[ 20071013205336 ]
wmiirc-lua v0.2 has suspend and raw modes

[ 20070929112345 ]
wmiirc-lua debianization

[ 20070924104140 ]
zsh tip of the day - global aliases

[ 20070915094213 ]
wmiirc-lua v0.1.1

[ 20070913130838 ]
comparing two directories

[ 20070909204125 ]
git-rebase --interactive

[ 20070908115905 ]
zsh tab completion awesomeness

[ 20070902000736 ]
wmiirc in lua

[ 20070831150306 ]
debugging with -dbg libraries

[ 20070831142646 ]
svn status like output in git

[ 20070829141847 ]
Git Cheat Sheet

[ 20070821142038 ]
switching to abiword

[ 20070811105746 ]
forwarding ssh and X through screen

[ 20070807112531 ]
git-svnup

[ 20070724082355 ]
reducing power consumption

[ 20070722123734 ]
Makefile template

[ 20070722002649 ]
less, colourful

[ 20070719162359 ]
irssi docs

[ 20070716114553 ]
qemu eats up /dev/shm

[ 20070710214512 ]
git-clean in svn land

[ 20070705113139 ]
ipw2200 not working

[ 20070627191916 ]
git slides updated

[ 20070618220649 ]
unpopular debian packages on my system

[ 20070611125852 ]
git-svn with multiple branches

[ 20070517085321 ]
Linus on Git at Google

[ 20070510134551 ]
vim modelines insecure

[ 20070504205042 ]
bios disassembler

[ 20070504124124 ]
dd hex arguments

[ 20070503013555 ]
urxvt mouseless url yanking

[ 20070502211941 ]
gitdiff.vba v2

[ 20070419234350 ]
india

[ 20070418155857 ]
zsh fun

[ 20070418143632 ]
pipe to pastey.net

[ 20070418094151 ]
vimgrep alias

[ 20070416202545 ]
mouse-free

[ 20070406141850 ]
ATA messages via SCSI layer

[ 20070330221019 ]
GITDiff vim plugin

[ 20070329011735 ]
git presentation for OCLUG

[ 20070328123631 ]
fixing vim's [[ and ]] for bad code

[ 20070316092236 ]
pxeboot and nfsroot with debian

[ 20070312134706 ]
etc snapshots with git

[ 20070307004041 ]
remote power switch

[ 20070222215355 ]
klips-less openswan git tree

[ 20070221041316 ]
git caching for v1.5.x

[ 20070218002214 ]
klips loses zlib

[ 20070209172606 ]
vim and linux CodingStyle

[ 20070207205427 ]
my kqemu install

[ 20070204100100 ]
leaner meaner openswan

[ 20070115111917 ]
wmii+ruby xlock action

[ 20070112131252 ]
cloning xterms in wmii+ruby

[ 20070102010551 ]
wmii+ruby talk for OCLUG

[ 20061228220641 ]
dump and restore

[ 20061218100219 ]
C style

[ 20061101002027 ]
fetching all git branches from remote

[ 20061028111607 ]
local caching for git repos

[ 20061020145437 ]
automatic version creation with git

[ 20061018213306 ]
wmii w/ ruby wmiirc

[ 20061018201907 ]
small fonts

[ 20061007151802 ]
google-codesearch from vim

[ 20060928020813 ]
shell commands

[ 20060920093957 ]
letting screen apps use the ssh-agent

[ 20060908223613 ]
mpdscribble stream support

[ 20060907125149 ]
glGo on ubuntu/dapper amd64

[ 20060906163240 ]
lbdb and mutt

[ 20060902145643 ]
vim tutorial

[ 20060902135722 ]
fixing your terminal

[ 20060828124713 ]
apt-get pdiffs

[ 20060824224842 ]
256 colour xterms

[ 20060824152658 ]
dynamic IPcomp

[ 20060824145428 ]
inkscape++

[ 20060818150516 ]
tags/cscope for system headers

[ 20060805131557 ]
opteron 170, part 4

[ 20060805101941 ]
opteron 170, part 3

[ 20060803233234 ]
opteron 170, part 2

[ 20060802210126 ]
opteron 170

[ 20060729144129 ]
OLS keysigning / 2006

[ 20060728105500 ]
git-find findings

[ 20060727162941 ]
starting on git-find

[ 20060727113632 ]
git-graft and git-find brainstorm

[ 20060726224531 ]
pretty function tracing

[ 20060713174723 ]
uml and multiple network segments

[ 20060707182236 ]
lastfm artist and title to clipboard

[ 20060706162256 ]
reverting a git changeset

[ 20060629212003 ]
user #3

[ 20060628083456 ]
firefox crashes with form input

[ 20060621151402 ]
git vs hg

[ 20060612222204 ]
ldap account management

[ 20060612194523 ]
stupid ldap

[ 20060608092157 ]
rpm hell is right

[ 20060605095726 ]
OpenSSH VPNs

[ 20060604114317 ]
Lenovo lost a customer

[ 20060601234010 ]
generating html colourized sourcecode

[ 20060601211716 ]
ion3 greatness and acting on X selections

[ 20060526085644 ]
software RAID10 performance

[ 20060525234148 ]
learning to love git

[ 20060524121638 ]
recent vim7 articles

[ 20060516095748 ]
bootstrapping debian on my sbc

[ 20060428145140 ]
entropy injection

[ 20060423140628 ]
Adam

[ 20060414202507 ]
converting mp3s to CD

[ 20060413232836 ]
secure apt-get

[ 20060412194423 ]
xen domain0 on debian

[ 20060410220525 ]
LVM2 on RAID1 mirror

[ 20060410102824 ]
building a RHEL4 kernel w/ kdb support

[ 20060407230939 ]
xen on debian

[ 20060407230818 ]
Upgraded look

[ 20060330131334 ]
Flattered by a copy

[ 20060328165153 ]
vim7 from source

[ 20060308123539 ]
Perl, Catalyst, CPAN, and Debian

[ 20060308123302 ]
last.fm

[ 20060128124841 ]
carcassonne and zombies

[ 20060120135931 ]
Election Humour

[ 20050925130002 ]
ldap on debian

[ 20050528190034 ]
Error while mapping shared library sections

[ 20050124130158 ]
IRC over email gateway

[ 20050110225522 ]
brute force attacks sshd?

[ 20050108095026 ]
LDAP authentication (part 1)

[ 20041124130146 ]
sawfish workspace themes

[ 20041113082651 ]
Mini-DV to divx using mencoder

[ 20041004084525 ]
notes on vserver

[ 20040922104334 ]
fast kernel logging

[ 20040803104122 ]
Digital Rebel for sale... GONE

[ 20040714202912 ]
OpenOffice resources

[ 20040603175746 ]
photo editing

[ 20040601082817 ]
WRT54G

[ 20040503205227 ]
Digital Rebel

[ 20040420200136 ]
Open Office templates

[ 20040326082602 ]
bash vi editing mode

[ 20040315204142 ]
debian install CDs

[ 20040312155542 ]
change of jobs

[ 20040308091554 ]
spamassasin extras

[ 20040305163216 ]
cool debian tools

[ 20040305155708 ]
first post!

Bart Trojanowski
http://www.jukie.net/~bart
bart@jukie.net