References

This list contains some of the best sources of information for programming styles and practices. Unfortunately I have not kept track of all the many good articles I have read, especially online, so I will update the list as I find the missing references. For further reading, collections such as this or this provide a good starting point. A Google search can often provide many interesting links too.

[1] Programming in C++: Rules and Recommendations written by Erik Nyquist and Mats Henricson for the Ellemtel Telecommunication Systems Laboratories. This is one of the best and most widely accepted coding conventions. The document is very well structured and it was the model that I started to follow initially. When I faced similar concepts or equivalent alternatives, I have almost always choosen to be compatible with these conventions. A few years later the original document was updated and expanded, resulting in a book (Industrial Strength C++) published by Prentice Hall. In addition to the above link you can find it in many other places, for example here with additional comments by R. M. Adams, here in PDF format and here again in HTML together with many other related documents.

[2] The practice of programming by Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike (Addison Wesley).

[3] Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction by Steve McConnell (Microsoft Press).

[4] How to write unmaintanable code by Roedy Green. The other perpective. Learn how to write the most annoying and bug-producing code, and drive your colleagues crazy.

[5] Coding Standards for C, C++, and Java is a large collection of coding and style guides maintained by Serge Shumilov. It contains most of the documents in this list, and many others.

[6] Literate Programming keeps also a collection of articles and documents on coding style, mostly in PDF format.

[7] Go To Statement Considered Harmful by Edsger W. Dijkstra. The revolutionary article that explained why programmers should not use goto, originally published in Communications of the ACM, Vol. 11, No. 3, March 1968 and republished online by ACM as one of the great classics.

[8] The C++ programming language by Bjarne Stroustrup (Addison Wesley).

[9] C++ Coding Standard by Todd Hoff.