General Tech Guidelines

Welcome to the general tech guidelines documentation for the Liskov Program team.

Software Craftsmanship

We promote software craftsmanship among all our tech teams. Here is the official manifesto:

"As aspiring Software Craftsmen we are raising the bar of professional software development by practicing it and helping others learn the craft. Through this work we have come to value:

1. Not only working software, but also well-crafted software
2. Not only responding to change, but also steadily adding value
3. Not only individuals and interactions, but also a community of professionals
4. Not only customer collaboration, but also productive partnerships

That is, in pursuit of the items on the left we have found the items on the right to be indispensable."

Clean Code

Following the software craftsmanship principles, Robert C. Martin wrote the Clean Code book. The main idea is that code is clean if it can be understood easily – by everyone on the team. Clean code can be read and enhanced by a developer other than its original author. With understandability comes readability, changeability, extensibility and maintainability.

Here is a summary of the book main principles:

General rules

1. Follow standard conventions.
2. Keep it simple stupid. Simpler is always better. Reduce complexity as much as possible.
3. Boy scout rule. Leave the campground cleaner than you found it.
4. Always find root cause. Always look for the root cause of a problem.

Design rules

1. Keep configurable data at high levels.
2. Prefer polymorphism to if/else or switch/case.
3. Separate multi-threading code.
4. Prevent over-configurability.
5. Use dependency injection.
6. Follow Law of Demeter. A class should know only its direct dependencies.

Understandability tips

1. Be consistent. If you do something a certain way, do all similar things in the same way.
2. Use explanatory variables.
3. Encapsulate boundary conditions. Boundary conditions are hard to keep track of. Put the processing for them in one place.
4. Prefer dedicated value objects to primitive type.
5. Avoid logical dependency. Don't write methods which works correctly depending on something else in the same class.
6. Avoid negative conditionals.

Names rules

1. Choose descriptive and unambiguous names.
2. Make meaningful distinction.
3. Use pronounceable names.
4. Use searchable names.
5. Replace magic numbers with named constants.
6. Avoid encodings. Don't append prefixes or type information.

Functions rules

1. Small.
2. Do one thing.
3. Use descriptive names.
4. Prefer fewer arguments.
5. Have no side effects.
6. Don't use flag arguments. Split method into several independent methods that can be called from the client without the flag.

Comments rules

1. Always try to explain yourself in code.
2. Don't be redundant.
3. Don't add obvious noise.
4. Don't use closing brace comments.
5. Don't comment out code. Just remove.
6. Use as explanation of intent.
7. Use as clarification of code.
8. Use as warning of consequences.

Source code structure

1. Separate concepts vertically.
2. Related code should appear vertically dense.
3. Declare variables close to their usage.
4. Dependent functions should be close.
5. Similar functions should be close.
6. Place functions in the downward direction.
7. Keep lines short.
8. Don't use horizontal alignment.
9. Use white space to associate related things and disassociate weakly related.
10. Don't break indentation.

Objects and data structures

1. Hide internal structure.
2. Prefer data structures.
3. Avoid hybrids structures (half object and half data).
4. Should be small.
5. Do one thing.
6. Small number of instance variables.
7. Base class should know nothing about their derivatives.
8. Better to have many functions than to pass some code into a function to select a behavior.
9. Prefer non-static methods to static methods.

Tests

1. One assert per test.
2. Readable.
3. Fast.
4. Independent.
5. Repeatable.

Code smells

1. Rigidity. The software is difficult to change. A small change causes a cascade of subsequent changes.
2. Fragility. The software breaks in many places due to a single change.
3. Immobility. You cannot reuse parts of the code in other projects because of involved risks and high effort.
4. Needless Complexity.
5. Needless Repetition.
6. Opacity. The code is hard to understand.

Bug Management

To properly alert, track and fix issues, one ticket must be added for each issue in the backlog with the following details:

1. Title
   • Provide a clear and concise title that summarizes the issue.
2. Description
   • Overview: Briefly describe the bug and its impact.
   • Expected Behavior: Explain what should happen.
   • Actual Behavior: Detail what's happening.
3. Steps to Reproduce
   • List step-by-step instructions to reproduce the bug, including any necessary preconditions.
4. Environment Details
   • Specify the environment where the bug occurred (e.g., browser, OS, device, software version).
5. Severity/Priority
   • Indicate the severity (e.g., critical, major, minor) and suggested priority level.
6. Attachments
   • Include relevant screenshots, videos, or logs that demonstrate the issue.
7. Additional Information
   • Add any other relevant details, such as related issues, workarounds, or affected users.
   • Following these guidelines ensures that the bug ticket is clear, actionable, and provides the necessary information for the development team to resolve the issue efficiently.