TYPO3 Coding Guidelines - Notes

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TYPO3 Coding Guidelines - Notes

General

• do not bind CGL to specific versions of the core
• rewrite CGL in a more "rule" style
• check how documentation looks when generated
• fix kickstarter!!!
• fix extdeveval
• no more function index required

spaces

• before and after operators (>, .=, <, =, ==, *, +, ...) (doesn't apply for $i-- and $i++)
• spaces after comma in function arguments ($argument1, $argument2, $argument3)

inline comments

• keep them on a separate line, inline comments must precede the commented line and be indented by one tab.
• comment your code if it is not immediately clear what it does, damn!

debug output

• do not check in commented debug code
• exception: comment it properly so that one can determine when it can be removed or activated again

IF/ELSE/ELSEIF

• space before and after opening/closing "("
• always use curly braces

PHP script:

<?php
 
    if ($a != 2) {
        $a = 2;
    } elseif ($a == 3) {
        $a = 4;
    } else {
        $a = 7;
    }
 
?>

Line endings:

• unix
• no empty lines / newline after or before php tags (<?php ?>)
• no whitespace at the end of lines
• keep lines shorter than 120 characters whenever possible
• commented lines should stay below 80 chars as it makes them easier to read

php tags

• always long opening tag
• always closing tag

PHP script:

<?php
 
?>

switch () {}

• there must be no more than one break per case
• write some comment if you leave out the break
• break is indented to the indentation of the code
• default is the last "case"
• there's no break in "default"

loops

• use foreach instead of while (list())
• if using foreach, there is no need for using reset()

The function of this two examples is identical:

PHP script:

<?php
 
    $arr = array('un', 'dos', 'tres');
    reset ($arr);
    while (list(, $value) = each ($arr)) {
       echo 'Value:  $value<br />\n';
    }
 
 
    foreach ($arr as $value) {
       echo 'Value:  $value<br />\n';
    }
 
?>

Same with this example:

PHP script:

<?php
 
    $arr = array('un', 'dos', 'tres');
    reset ($arr);
    while (list($key, $value) = each ($arr)) {
       echo 'Value: $key; Value: $value<br />\n';
    }
 
 
    foreach ($arr as $key => $value) {
       echo 'Value: $key; Value: $value<br />\n';
    }
 
?>

filenames:

• as long as you wish
• all lower case

classes, functions, and variables

• add a comment about what the class does before the class
• only one class per file
• camelCase, no underscores
• start with lower case
• use speaking and descriptive names
• don't shorten names for the sake of it
• do not write the variable name in the parameter comment for methods

Strings

• use single quotes (faster)

Concatenation of strings:

PHP script:

<?php
 
$project = 'TYPO3' . ' ' . 'Association';
 
?>

Multi line strings:

• dot at the end

PHP script:

<?php
 
$longString = 'dkjfbs' .
'ajsdjka';
 
?>

PHP5 features:

• use type hints (no must, but should)
• use protected instead of private, when using private make a comment why
• do not use the "var" keyword anymore

array:

• define arrays before passing them to functions
• declare array before filling them
• check whether the array index is set in case you're not sure whether it is there
• leave the check out in case you're sure that the index exists
• arrays as class members should be declared as such during declaration / initialize them with declaration

PHP script:

<?php
 
    $a = array();
    $a = array(
        'asd',
        'ajsd',
        );
 
?>

Indentations:

• tabs (only) at the beginning of the line, everything else with spaces

global variables

• do not use the global keyword, use $GLOBALS[] instead

style

• if the phpDoc comment says a method returns something, it must return somethign in any case
• Use early returns only for guard clauses and only if they greatly improve readability.
• only one return statement per function (exceptions allowed for legacy code)
• mention the default values for optinal parameters in function comments
• when using the terniary operator (short if/else), put it in "()"
• no nesting with the terniary operator
• uppercase booleans and null

Suggestions

• convert code to utf8 at some point
• line up arrows in associative arrays

RFCs

• use true instead of 1 and false instead of 0

Tonda 12:52, 17 September 2008 (CEST)

• use true for TRUE and false for FALSE because its faster (PHP knows this constants in lowercase too and interprets this in first run).

See http://www.phpbar.de/w/Code-Optimierungen (its german) Tonda 12:27, 17 September 2008 (CEST)