aseprite/docs/CODING_STYLE.md

Code Style Guidelines

Basics

Basic statements:

void global_function(int arg1,
                     const int arg2, // You can use "const" preferably
                     const int arg3, ...)
{
  int value;
  const int constValue = 0;

  // We prefer to use "var = (condition ? ...: ...)" instead of
  // "var = condition ? ...: ...;" to make clear about the
  // ternary operator limits.
  int conditionalValue1 = (condition ? 1: 2);
  int conditionalValue2 = (condition ? longVarName:
                                       otherLongVarName);

  // If a condition will return, we prefer the "return"
  // statement in its own line to avoid missing the "return"
  // keyword when we read code.
  if (condition)
    return;

  // You can use braces {} if the condition has multiple lines
  // or the if-body has multiple lines.
  if (condition1 ||
      condition2) {
    return;
  }

  if (condition) {
    ...
    ...
    ...
  }

  // We prefer to avoid whitespaces between "var=initial_value"
  // or "var<limit" to see better the "; " separation. Anyway it
  // can depend on the specific condition/case, etc.
  for (int i=0; i<10; ++i) {
    ...
    // Same case as in if-return.
    if (condition)
      break;
    ...
  }

  while (condition) {
    ...
  }

  do {
    ...
  } while (condition);

  switch (condition) {
    case 1:
      ...
      break;
    case 2: {
      int varInsideCase;
      ...
      break;
    }
    default:
      break;
  }
}

Namespaces

Define namespaces with lower case:

namespace app {

  ...

} // namespace app

Classes

Define classes with CapitalCase and member functions with camelCase:

class ClassName {
public:
  ClassName()
    : m_memberVarA(1),
      m_memberVarB(2),
      m_memberVarC(3) {
    ...
  }

  virtual ~ClassName();

  // We can return in the same line for getter-like functions
  int memberVar() const { return m_memberVar; }
  void setMemberVar();

protected:
  virtual void onEvent1() { } // Do nothing functions can be defined as "{ }"
  virtual void onEvent2() = 0;

private:
  int m_memberVarA;
  int m_memberVarB;
  int m_memberVarC;
  int m_memberVarD = 4; // We can initialize variables here too
};

class Special : public ClassName {
public:
  Special();

protected:
  void onEvent2() override {
    ...
  }
};

C++11

We are using some modern C++ (C++11, C++14, etc.) features, mainly:

• Use nullptr instead of NULL macro
• Use auto for complex types, iterators, or when the variable type is obvious (e.g. auto s = new Sprite;)
• Use range-based for loops (for (const auto& item : values) { ... })
• Use template alias (template<typename T> alias = orig<T>;)
• Use non-generic lambda functions
• Use std::shared_ptr, std::unique_ptr, or base::Ref
• Use base::clamp (no std::clamp yet)
• Use static constexpr T v = ...;
• You can use <atomic>, <thread>, <mutex>, and <condition_variable>
• Prefer using T = ...; instead of typedef ... T
• We use gcc 9.2 or clang 9.0 on Linux, so check the features available in https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/compiler_support