Coding Conventions

#C++ Headers

• .cpp Files should only include a reference to its header.
• The header is where all #include and namespace declarations should be made.
• The header should always be protected using the following convention:

#ifndef FILENAME
#define FILENAME

code ...

#endif

• The header is where all method documentation is stored (unnecessary in the .cpp file)
• Small methods extending from a larger method may be declared in the header file (Preferably one-liners).
• Only one doccumentation comment is necessary per group of related methods.
• Groups of related methods ought to not be separated by whitespace.
• Different groups ought to be separated by double whitespace.

#Commenting We use tags in order to make our comments more data-centric for future automatic documentation. The following tags are most common:

• @Param
• @Return
• @Complexity

We do not use the tags @author and @date for several reasons:

• These tags are rarely remembered when writing and updating code
• We use a VCS which keeps track of all of this information automatically.

##Files All files should have a header containing of the following format:

/**
 * <Filename.type>
 * <Description>
 */

##Methods All methods should have a header containing of the following format:

/**
 * <Description>
 * 
 * @Param Param1: <Description>
 * @Param Param2: <Description>
 * @Param ...
 * @Return <Regular condition>
 * @Return <Exception condition>
 * @Return ...
 * @Complexity <Min Complexity>, <Average Complexity>, <Max Complexity>
 */

ALWAYS include an exception-condition if one exists.