2.0 - Coding Guidelines

[pflarr]

The following are the general programming guidelines for working on the Pavilion 2.0 branch.

1. Follow PEP 8 style guidelines, even the parts you don't like.
2. Write docstrings using sphinx style for everything. The Yaml_config library is a good example.
3. Stay as python3 compatible as possible, even though we're in 2.7. Import the following from future in all modules, and use them (where appropriate):

• print_statement
• division
• unicode_literals

4. Keep modules fairly independent from each other.
5. Write regression/unit tests (made a lot easier by independent modules...)
6. Write documentation (in sphinx markup) for both users and contributors.
7. Push changes to separate branches, and then put in a merge request.

• Merge must be approved by a different developer. Unit tests must pass.

8. Expect and use unicode strings everywhere, for python3 compatibility.

Doc strings