Commit 401c0b3b authored by Rob Pike's avatar Rob Pike

get this out of the way

OCL=33178
CL=33180
parent 91173b89
......@@ -27,80 +27,6 @@ only as the core library but also as examples of how to
use the language. Read them and follow their example.
</p>
<h3 id="be-consistent">Be consistent</h3>
<p>
Programmers often want their style to be distinctive,
writing loops backwards or using custom spacing and
naming conventions. Such idiosyncracies come at a
price, however: by making the code look different,
they make it harder to understand.
Consistency trumps personal
expression in programming.
</p>
<p>
If a program does the same thing twice,
it should do it the same way both times.
Conversely, if two different sections of a
program look different, the reader will
expect them to do different things.
</p>
<p>
Consider <code>for</code> loops.
Traditionally, a loop over <code>n</code>
elements begins:
</p>
<pre>
for i := 0; i &lt; n; i++ {
</pre>
<p>
Much of the time, the loop could run in the opposite order
and still be correct:
</p>
<pre>
for i := n-1; i &gt;= 0; i-- {
</pre>
<p>
The convention
is to count up unless to do so would be incorrect.
A loop that counts down implicitly says &ldquo;something
special is happening here.&rdquo;
A reader who finds a program in which some
loops count up and the rest count down
will spend time trying to understand why.
</p>
<p>
Loop direction is just one
programming decision that must be made
consistently; others include
formatting, naming variables and methods,
whether a type
has a constructor, what tests look like, and so on.
Why is this variable called <code>n</code> here and <code>cnt</code> there?
Why is the <code>Log</code> constructor <code>CreateLog</code> when
the <code>List</code> constructor is <code>NewList</code>?
Why is this data structure initialized using
a structure literal when that one
is initialized using individual assignments?
These questions distract from the important one:
what does the code do?
Moreover, internal consistency is important not only within a single file,
but also within the the surrounding source files.
When editing code, read the surrounding context
and try to mimic it as much as possible, even if it
disagrees with the rules here.
It should not be possible to tell which lines
you wrote or edited based on style alone.
Consistency about little things
lets readers concentrate on big ones.
</p>
<h2 id="formatting">Formatting</h2>
......@@ -403,18 +329,19 @@ or <code>n</code> and <code>cnt</code>.
<h2 id="idioms">Idioms</h2>
TODO: Add links to code once godoc can handle it.
<h3 id="address-literals">Address literals to allocate and initialize</h3>
<h3 id="struct-allocation">Allocate using literals</h3>
<p>
Taking the address of a struct or array literal evaluates to a
new instance each time it is evaluated.
Use these expressions to avoid the repetition of filling
A struct literal is an expression that creates a
new instance each time it is evaluated. The address of such
an expression therefore points to a fresh instance each time.
Use such expressions to avoid the repetition of filling
out a data structure.
</p>
<pre>
length := Point{x, y}.Abs();
// Prepare RPCMessage to send to server
rpc := &amp;RPCMessage {
Version: 1,
......@@ -427,6 +354,11 @@ rpc := &amp;RPCMessage {
};
</pre>
<p>
Array, slice, and map literals behave similarly, although it is
unusual to need the address of a slice or map.
</p>
<h3 id="buffer-slice">Use parallel assignment to slice a buffer</h3>
<pre>
......@@ -586,17 +518,20 @@ type PathError struct {
}
func (e *PathError) String() string {
return e.Op + " " + e.Path + ": " + e.Error.String();
return e.Op + &quot; &quot; + e.Path + &quot;: &quot; + e.Error.String();
}
</pre>
<p>
<code>PathError</code>'s <code>String</code> formats
the error nicely, including the operation and file name
tha failed; just printing the error generates a
message, such as
</p>
<pre>
open /etc/passwx: no such file or directory
</pre>
<p>
that is useful even if printed far from the call that
triggered it.
</p>
......@@ -604,7 +539,10 @@ triggered it.
<p>
Callers that care about the precise error details can
use a type switch or a type guard to look for specific
errors and extract details.
errors and extract details. For <code>PathErrors</code>
this might include examining the internal <code>Error</code>
to see if it is <code>os.EPERM</code> or <code>os.ENOENT</code>,
for instance.
</p>
<h2 id="types">Programmer-defined types</h2>
......@@ -615,7 +553,7 @@ errors and extract details.
The constructor for the type <code>pkg.MyType</code> should
be named <code>pkg.NewMyType</code> and should return <code>*pkg.MyType</code>.
The implementation of <code>NewTypeName</code> often uses the
<a href="#allocating-a-struct">struct allocation idiom</a>.
<a href="#struct-allocation">struct allocation idiom</a>.
</p>
<a href="xxx">go/src/pkg/os/file.go</a>:
......@@ -784,6 +722,81 @@ makes it easy to check that the return value is
exactly as expected.
</p>
<h2 id="be-consistent">Be consistent</h2>
<p>
Programmers often want their style to be distinctive,
writing loops backwards or using custom spacing and
naming conventions. Such idiosyncracies come at a
price, however: by making the code look different,
they make it harder to understand.
Consistency trumps personal
expression in programming.
</p>
<p>
If a program does the same thing twice,
it should do it the same way both times.
Conversely, if two different sections of a
program look different, the reader will
expect them to do different things.
</p>
<p>
Consider <code>for</code> loops.
Traditionally, a loop over <code>n</code>
elements begins:
</p>
<pre>
for i := 0; i &lt; n; i++ {
</pre>
<p>
Much of the time, the loop could run in the opposite order
and still be correct:
</p>
<pre>
for i := n-1; i &gt;= 0; i-- {
</pre>
<p>
The convention
is to count up unless to do so would be incorrect.
A loop that counts down implicitly says &ldquo;something
special is happening here.&rdquo;
A reader who finds a program in which some
loops count up and the rest count down
will spend time trying to understand why.
</p>
<p>
Loop direction is just one
programming decision that must be made
consistently; others include
formatting, naming variables and methods,
whether a type
has a constructor, what tests look like, and so on.
Why is this variable called <code>n</code> here and <code>cnt</code> there?
Why is the <code>Log</code> constructor <code>CreateLog</code> when
the <code>List</code> constructor is <code>NewList</code>?
Why is this data structure initialized using
a structure literal when that one
is initialized using individual assignments?
These questions distract from the important one:
what does the code do?
Moreover, internal consistency is important not only within a single file,
but also within the the surrounding source files.
When editing code, read the surrounding context
and try to mimic it as much as possible, even if it
disagrees with the rules here.
It should not be possible to tell which lines
you wrote or edited based on style alone.
Consistency about little things
lets readers concentrate on big ones.
</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>
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