coding_style.txt

If you intend to participate in the development
of this project, read this carefully.

The coding style adopted by this project follows
closely modern C++ style that is used for example
by standard C++ library STL and the boost library.

In particular this means, regarding naming:
- all namespace, class, and function names are
  in lower case. Words are separated by underscores
  example: class my_class
- Template parameters use upper case.
  example: template <class DataType>

For this project several other conventions have been
chosen:

- Indentation is done by spaces only, no tabs should
  be used. I would prefer indentation by tabs
  and alignment with spaces, but the unfortunate 
  reality is that if multiple people of varying knowledge
  participate in the project it's unlikely to work.

- Private variables are prepended by underscore.
  Example:
  class test_class {
  private:
      int _my_private_var;
  public:
      int my_public_var;
  };
  
- Curlybraces are directly after the function/if/while etc.
  UNLESS the parameters extend more than one line.
  Examples:
  // Curly brace on same line
  if (value1 == true) {
      value = false;
  }
  // Curly brace on the following line
  if (value1 == true  &&
      value2 == false &&
      value3 == true)
  {
      value = false;
  }
  This style allows compact formatting when possible, but
  also clarity when there are several lines of text

- When dividing for example function parameters on several
  lines there are two possible alternatives. An example
  shows this the best:
  void function_with_many_pars(int parameter1,
                               int parameter2,
                               int parameter3)
  {
  }
  // Alternative form, useful often if the function name is longish
  void function_with_many_pars(
      int parameter1,
      int parameter2,
      int parameter3
  ) {
  }