Code Documentation Standards [StartupCTO]

Last Updated: 19 Sep 2025

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Author: 34.174.82.12

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= Code Documentation Standards =

Documenting your code well is almost as important as making sure it is bug free. In fact, many people would argue that it is //more// important, because if you document it well, at least somebody else can come in and fix your bugs later on.

I like using the *doc format for code documentation ([[http://www.phpdoc.org/|phpdoc]], [[http://java.sun.com/j2se/javadoc/|javadoc]], etc.) because it is fairly standard and easily machine+human readable. It uses ''@'' identifiers for various peices of documentation (e.g. ''@param'', ''@return'', ''@see'', etc.)

For the code itself, I try to follow the [[http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/coding-standard.html|Zend Framework standards]]. In brief, these are:
 * Lines should be 75-85 characters long, no more. Four spaces should be used for indentation, not tabs.
 * One class per file. 
 * Underscores in class names map to directory separators (e.g. ''Zend_Controller_Action'' maps to ''Zend/Controller/Action.php'')
 * Class names are all MixedCase. Curly bracket to open a class appears on the line after the class definition.
 * Method names are all camelCase. Curly brackets appear on the same line as the method definition.
 * Constants are ALL_CAPS, with underscores for spaces.
 * Properties and variable names are camelCase. Private and protected properties start with an underscore (e.g. ''private $_myVar'')

For a great overview of code+documentation best practices in PHP (as well as other PHP best practices), see  Matthew Weier O'Phinney's [[http://www.slideshare.net/dpc/best-practices-with-zend-framework-matthew-weier-ophinney|Best Practices with Zend Framework]] slideshow.

The following is a code sample outlining good code+documentation practices. It is written in PHP, but the concepts can be applied to any similar language. Note the ''$Id: $'' tag; I generally like to [[:server-tech:subversion:setting-the-id-tag|configure subversion to automatically set that tag]].

<code php>
<?php

/**
 * MyBigClass 
 * 
 * MyBigClass lets you do great things. Note we try to keep all lines, including comments, 
 * under 75-85 chars
 * 
 * @author David Ordal, david -at- ordal.com
 * @package bigclass-tool
 * @version $Id: mybigclass.php 3259 2009-03-15 22:54:21Z dordal $
 *
 */

// class names are declared in MixedCase, and the open bracket goes on the next line
class MyBigClass 
{
    
    // constants are declared in ALL_CAPS
    const AW_LANGUAGES = 'en';
    const AW_COUNTRIES = 'US';
    
    public $setupList = null;              // variables are declared in camelCase
    private $_apiSoapClient = null;        // and private/protected variables start with an
                                           // underscore

    /**
     * __construct(): constructor function. Note we document any parameters
     *
     * @param    string $email email address of the account being accessed
     * @param    string $password password of the account being accessed
     *
     */
    public function __construct($email, $password) {
        // do stuff here to construct the object. Note that 
        // curly braces for functions are on the same line
            
    }
    
    /**
     * getData(): return data from this object
     * 
     * @param    string $keyword the keyword in question
     * @return    array
     *
     */
    public function getKeywordData($keyword) {
        $myArray = array();
        // do keyword data lookup and put it into $kwArray
        return $myArray;
    }
}

?>

</code>

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