Google Style Reference

This page outlines the correct styling practices for scenarios encountered in the course, based on the Google C++ Style Guide. Each section provides clear examples to ensure your code adheres to the required standards, helping you write clean, readable, and maintainable programs. Use this as a guide to meet the course’s styling expectations.

Access Specifier Indent Detected

Access specifiers like public, protected, and private should be indented by 1-space. You should NOT have a blank line after an access specifier.

class MyClass {
 public:
  void Print() const;
 private:
  int data;
};

Reference to cpplint error

Class Blank Space Detected

There should NOT be a blank line after the class name line or before the closing brace line.

class MyClass {
 public:
  MyClass();  //  Not blank
  ~MyClass();
  int GetData() const { return data; }

 private:
  int data;
  void HelperFunction();  //  Not blank
};

Reference to cpplint error

Class Data Member Not Detected

The name of the data member should ALWAYS end with an underscore (_).

int data_;
string name_;

Error not detected by cpplint

Class Name Not Detected

The name of your class should be capitalized, and should follow CamelCase rules.

class MyCamelClass {
  // Members
};

Error not detected by cpplint

Column Length Detected

Your MAX column length is 80.

// Copyright 2024 CSCE240
#include <iostream>

int main() {
  std::cout << "a very very long print statement that seems to never end and "
               "goes past the editor screen"
            << std::endl;
  return 0;
}

Reference to cpplint error

Commenting Detected

If you use a comment in a line that contains code, you need to have at least two spaces between code and comment.

int counter = 0;  // Counter for something...

Reference to cpplint error

Constant Not Detected

Constants should be formatted with a lowercase k followed by CamelCasing the rest of the name.

const double kPie = 3.14;

Error not detected by cpplint

Control Structures Detected

• Blank space between the statement type and the parenthesis.

• No blank spaces after the opening parenthesis and before the closing parenthesis.

• Single space between the parenthesis and the opening brace.

• Opening brace should be on the same line as the statement.

• No blank lines between the braces and the code block.

Do-While

do {
  // Body of the loop
} while (condition);

For

for (initialization; condition; update) {
  // Body of the loop
}

If-Else

If

// Single Line OR Multi Line w/o omitting braces
if (true) {
  // Do something
}

// Single Line w/ omitting braces
if (true) // Do something
// OR
if (true)
  // Do something

If-Else

if (true) {
  // Do something
} else {
  // Do something
}

Nested

if (true) {
  // Do something
  if (true) {
    // Do something
  } else {
    // Do something
  }
} else {
  // Do something
}

Switch

switch (integer_expression) {
  case value1:
    // Case actions
    break;
  case value2:
    // Case actions
    break;
  // ...
  default:
}

While

// Braces REQUIRED
while (condition) {
  // Body of the loop
}

Reference to cpplint errors

Copyright Detected

The first line of each file should be authored with a comment in the following format // Copyright <year> <name>.

// Copyright 2024 CSCE240

Reference to cpplint error

Function Mostly Detected

• The name of the function should start with a capitalized letter and casing should follow CamelCase rules. This is not caught by cpplint.

Note

The main function is an exception and should ALWAYS be written as main().

• Parenthesis should be next to the function’s name.

• There should NOT be a space after the opening parenthesis, or before the ending parenthesis.

• There should be a single space between the opening parenthesis, and the opening brace.

• Opening braces should ALWAYS be in the same line as the associated statement. If the function implementation is only one small line, you can place the closing brace on the same line.

• There should NOT be an empty blank line after the function declaration or before the closing brace of the function.

Single-Line

int GetData() const { return data_; }

Multi-Line

// Copyright 2024 CSCE240
void GreetAmigo() {
  cout << "¡Hola, amigo!" << endl;
  cout << "¿Cómo estás?" << endl;
}

Reference to cpplint error

Header Guards Falsely Detected

You can disregard the error thrown as cpplint asks for a complete file path after #ifndef and after #endif. Complete filepaths should NOT be used in this course.

#ifndef FILE_NAME_
#define FILE_NAME_

// Prototypes

#endif

Reference to cpplint error

Include File Falsely Detected

You can disregard the error thrown as cpplint asks for a complete file path after #include instead of the relative one that is used. Complete filepaths should NOT be used in this course.

#include "filename.file_extension"

Reference to cpplint error

Indentation Not Detected

2-space indent length per indentation level.

// Copyright 2024 CSCE240
#include <iostream>

using std::cout;
using std::endl;

int main() {
  bool correct_indentation = true;
  bool every_line = true;

  if (correct_indentation) {
    if (every_line) {
      cout << "No points deducted!" << endl;
    } else {
      cout << "You almost had it!" << endl;
    }
  } else {
    cout << "Sorry your indentation is incorrect!" << endl;
  }

  return 0;
}

Error not detected by cpplint

Makefile Detected

Your recipe commands should be indented with a tab not spaces. Copying and pasting code snippets may produce this error as some code editors don’t recognize a copied tab.

target: Prerequisite(s)
    recipe command(s)

# As many as you need
target: Prerequisite(s)
    recipe command(s)

Reference to cpplint error

Namespace Not Detected

You should use lowercase letters when naming a namespace and should follow snake_case notation. The ending brace should contain a comment stating namespace and the name of the namespace.

namespace csce240_program {

  // Class, etc.

}  // namespace csce240_program

Error not detected by cpplint

Newline Character Detected

Every file should end with a blank line.

Reference to cpplint error

Caution

Coding snippets do not provide an empty line at the end.

Variable Not Detected

Variables should be named using snake_case.

int my_integer = 10;
double my_double = 10.0;

Error not detected by cpplint