GNU coding standards

The GNU Coding Standards document the programming style used by the GNU Project. Its main purpose is to guide all volunteers in writing portable, robust, and reliable programs; and to provide GNU tools that behave consistently. The GNU coding standards only mention coding in one language, C.

Indentation

Here is one example of the indentation:

int main()
{
  foo(bar);
}

The basic level of indentation puts the curly brackets on one line, indenting them two spaces in. The statement(s) after the brackets are indented four spaces in.

Variable Declaration

Variables are declared each on one line, or two of the same sort on one line. The former is prefered in the GNU coding style.

Example:

int foo;
int bar;

OR

int foo, bar;

The method:

int foo,
    bar;

is not permitted under the guidlines.

Files (Temporary, Configuration and/or Backups)

The GNU coding standard tells where to save your temporary, configuration or backup files. It recommends to not assume that /etc or /usr are writeable. A program should have the ability to keep files somewhere else.

Portability

In GNU Emacs, the default style of C source code is GNU.

External links

• Online GNU Coding Standards