Programming Conventions
The SILC Toolkit has been programmed with a specific programming style that
is consistent across all libraries and interfaces. The programming style
defines for example naming conventions for functions, structures, macros,
enumerations, and other constants.
Naming Conventions
Macros and Defines
Macros are always capitalised and include underscores to separate words
in the name. All macros start with the "SILC_" prefix. Example:
#define SILC_PACKET_PADLEN(__packetlen, __blocklen) \
SILC_PACKET_DEFAULT_PADLEN - (__packetlen) % \
((__blocklen) ? (__blocklen) : SILC_PACKET_DEFAULT_PADLEN)
Also other defines (#define) are always capitalised and include
underscores to separate words in the name. Also all defines start with
the "SILC_" prefix.
Structures
All structure names begin with "Silc" prefix, and the name is mixed-case,
for example: SilcClientConnection, SilcCommandPayload. Many of the
structures used in SILC are actually private structures, and application
cannot access them directly. In these cases the structures are forward
declared in the public header, and the implementation of the structure
is in the source file. In these case application does not need to know
the contents of the structure, and is usually provided with a helper API
to access the structure when needed.
In the most of the cases the forward declaration for a structure is pointer,
for example:
typedef struct SilcClientStruct *SilcClient;
Application should always use the type defined pointer instead of the
actual structure.
Functions
Function naming uses the common naming convention used in Toolkit. All
functions are always lowercase and they use underscores. The name of
the function always starts with prefix "silc_". The name tells what
the function do. The name of a function is constructed from following parts:
silc_(module)_(function)
The (module) is the library, or interface this functions is part of. For
example: "cipher", "config", "command", "packet", etc.
The (function) is the description of the functionality of the function.
For example: "read", "new_id", "register", "find_by_name", etc. Examples:
silc_server_packet_send
silc_server_packet_send_to_channel
silc_idcache_del_by_id
silc_schedule_init
silc_protocol_excute_final
silc_buffer_alloc
When function registers something the name of the function generally is
"silc_function_register" and unregistering is done with
"silc_function_unregister". When function allocates something it
is "silc_function_alloc" and when freeing it is
"silc_function_free". Respectively, with init/uninit functions.
Enumerations
Enumerations are always capitalised and include underscores to separate
words in the name. All enumerations start with the "SILC_" prefix. Also,
usually all enumerations are type defined to a specific name which can
be used as type for the enumeration. Example:
typedef enum {
SILC_EXAMPLE_ENUM_NONE,
SILC_EXAMPLE_ENUM_LIST,
SILC_EXAMPLE_ENUM_STATUS,
} SilcExampleEnum;
The naming for the type definition for the enumerations follow the
normal naming convention; the name starts with "Silc" prefix and the
name is mixed-case.
Layout
Indentation
The indendation in the source code is 2 characters, and tabulators are
not used. Example piece of code:
void silc_client_free(SilcClient client)
{
if (client) {
if (client->rng)
silc_rng_free(client->rng);
silc_free(client);
}
}
Placing Braces
Generally the braces placing the SILC code follows the K&R style; the
opening of the brace is put to the last on the line, and the closing brace
is on first on its own line, except for functions. Examples:
if (condition) {
silc_something();
silc_something_more();
}
int silc_client_function()
{
return 0;
}
if (condition) {
something;
silc_something_more();
} else {
something_else;
}
if (condition) {
something;
silc_something_more();
} else if (other_condition) {
something;
silc_something_more();
} else {
something_else;
}
Header Files
Standard anti-nesting method is used in the header files to avoid
multiple inclusion of the header file. Example:
#ifndef SILCHEADER_H
#define SILCHEADER_H
...
#endif /* SILCHEADER_H */
All public header files have the "silc" prefix in the filename, for example:
silcclient.h, silcprivate.h, silcutil.h. There are other header files in
the Toolkit as well. Application should not directly include these headers,
however if needed it may access them.
Every header file also includes a copyright notice.
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