A generic tag covering any accepted method of doing things, which could include naming, spacing, coding, commenting, etc.
A generic tag covering any accepted method of doing things, which could include naming, spacing, coding, commenting, etc.
Questions tagged [conventions]
1143 questions
870
votes
22 answers
When to use the different log levels
There are different ways to log messages, in order of fatality:
FATAL
ERROR
WARN
INFO
DEBUG
TRACE
How do I decide when to use which?
What's a good heuristic to use?
raoulsson
- 14,978
- 11
- 44
- 68
682
votes
7 answers
Should I use past or present tense in git commit messages?
I read once that git commit messages should be in the imperative present tense, e.g. "Add tests for x". I always find myself using the past tense, e.g. "Added tests for x" though, which feels a lot more natural to me.
Here's a recent John Resig…
Skilldrick
- 69,215
- 34
- 177
- 229
436
votes
8 answers
Is there a standardized method to swap two variables in Python?
In Python, I've seen two variable values swapped using this syntax:
left, right = right, left
Is this considered the standard way to swap two variable values or is there some other means by which two variables are by convention most usually…
WilliamKF
- 41,123
- 68
- 193
- 295
242
votes
9 answers
What is trunk, branch and tag in Subversion?
Possible Duplicate:
What do “branch”, “tag” and “trunk” really mean?
What is a trunk, branch and tag in Subversion and what are the best practices to use them?
What tools can I use for Subversion in Visual Studio 2008?
Hemanshu Bhojak
- 16,972
- 16
- 49
- 64
231
votes
6 answers
Python __str__ versus __unicode__
Is there a python convention for when you should implement __str__() versus __unicode__(). I've seen classes override __unicode__() more frequently than __str__() but it doesn't appear to be consistent. Are there specific rules when it is better…
Cory
- 22,772
- 19
- 94
- 91
223
votes
6 answers
Convert Enumeration to a Set/List
Is there some one-liner bridge method to dump a given Enumeration to java.util.List or java.util.Set?
Something built-in like Arrays.asList() or Collection.toArray() should exist somewhere, but I'm unable to find that in my IntelliJ debugger's…
Anton Kraievyi
- 4,182
- 4
- 26
- 41
200
votes
11 answers
Swift: guard let vs if let
I have been reading about Optionals in Swift, and I have seen examples where if let is used to check if an Optional holds a value, and in case it does – do something with the unwrapped value.
However, I have seen that in Swift 2.0 the keyword guard…
lmiguelvargasf
- 63,191
- 45
- 217
- 228
193
votes
6 answers
How do I add the contents of an iterable to a set?
What is the "one [...] obvious way" to add all items of an iterable to an existing set?
Ian Mackinnon
- 13,381
- 13
- 51
- 67
185
votes
8 answers
Are there any Java method ordering conventions?
I've got a large-ish class (40 or so methods) that is part of a package I will be submitting as course-work. Currently, the methods are pretty jumbled up in terms of utility public/private etc. and I want to order them in a sensible way. Is there a…
fredley
- 32,953
- 42
- 145
- 236
173
votes
5 answers
Where to define custom error types in Ruby and/or Rails?
Is there a best practice for defining custom error types in a Ruby library (gem) or Ruby on Rails application? Specifically:
Where do they belong structurally in the project? A separate file, inlined with the relevant module/class definition,…
coreyward
- 77,547
- 20
- 137
- 166
168
votes
10 answers
How to organize large R programs?
When I undertake an R project of any complexity, my scripts quickly get long and confusing.
What are some practices I can adopt so that my code will always be a pleasure to work with? I'm thinking about things like
Placement of functions in source…
Dan Goldstein
- 24,229
- 18
- 37
- 41
158
votes
16 answers
How do I pronounce "=>" as used in lambda expressions in .Net
I very rarely meet any other programmers!
My thought when I first saw the token was "implies that" since that's what it would read it as in a mathematical proof but that clearly isn't its sense.
So how do I say or read "=>" as…
Christopher Edwards
- 6,589
- 8
- 43
- 57
153
votes
10 answers
Is it pythonic to import inside functions?
PEP 8 says:
Imports are always put at the top of the file, just after any module
comments and docstrings, and before module globals and constants.
On occation, I violate PEP 8. Some times I import stuff inside functions. As a general rule, I…
codeape
- 97,830
- 24
- 159
- 188
151
votes
3 answers
What is the canonical YAML naming style
I am designing a new YAML file, and I want to use the most standard style of naming. Which is it?
Hyphenated?
- job-name:
...
lower_case_with_underscores?
- job_name:
...
CamelCase?
- jobName:
...
John McGehee
- 9,117
- 9
- 42
- 50
129
votes
39 answers
Should one use < or <= in a for loop
If you had to iterate through a loop 7 times, would you use:
for (int i = 0; i < 7; i++)
or:
for (int i = 0; i <= 6; i++)
There are two considerations:
performance
readability
For performance I'm assuming Java or C#. Does it matter if "less…
Eugene Katz
- 5,208
- 7
- 40
- 49