Coding Guidelines, the Gist

Published on Jan 13, 2016 (updated Oct 3, 2023), filed under development (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)

Coding guidelines govern how we write code.

Coding guidelines directly help consistency, and through that, indirectly, impact [code] usability, collaboration, and maintainability.

Coding guidelines are important.

The main ingredients of a coding guideline are: what (not) to do within a particular scope, examples, and an explanation.

Coding guidelines can deal with preference or with quality.

Coding guidelines can be descriptive, prescriptive, or both.

Coding guidelines must be communicated, enforced and reviewed.

And, there are some solid coding guidelines out there.

More: The Little Book of HTML/CSS Coding Guidelines (still brand-new, and still free)!

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve been working as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you’ve never heard of and companies you use every day, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)