Symbol names and scope

Local variables are lower case, with words (if any) separated by underscores.

Class instance variables begin with a single underscore.

Formal parameters (arguments passed to functions) begin with an Upper case letter, and are otherwise lower case.

Do not use “using”. Instead, explicitly specify the scope with every use.

Constants are ALL_CAPS.

Members of an enum set begin with a lower case letter, but are otherwise ALL CAPS. That lower case prefix is the same for all members of the same enum set.

Class names may be either ALL_CAPS or may be Mixed_Case_With_Words_Capitalized, with Words_Separated_By_Underscore, but be consistent. ALL_CAPS are preferred for base classes, Mixed_Case is preferred for “final” and application classes.

Do not use CamelCase.

Avoid single letter names.

Occasionally, it is ok to insert an un_derscore in a funny place to make it easier to “grep”.

Flag symbols (both variables and methods) begin with “is_”, for example “is_empty”.

In general, please restrict all names to the narrowest useful scope.

Avoid globals. If you really must make something global, put it in a namespace so its origin is clear.

Class instance variables should be private or protected.