modified: 20150430153333808
title: TiddlyWiki Coding Style Guidelines
tags: dev

! Motivation

TiddlyWiki is a large project with many interested parties. It benefits everyone if the code is as easy to read as possible. A key part of that it must be written and laid out consistently -- the code should read as though it were written by a single author.

! Guidelines

This list of guidelines isn't exhaustive but captures some of the common problems. The ultimate guide is the existing TiddlyWiki code-base. There are still some places where the coding guidelines aren't used consistently within the core; pull requests are welcome to help resolve those issues.

!! Tabs and whitespace

TiddlyWiki uses 4-character tabs for indenting.

One blank line is used to separate blocks of code. Occasional blank lines are permitted within blocks for clarity, but should be avoided unless they solve a specific readability problem.

!! Layout of basic constructs

See the following example for layout of basic JavaScript constructs:

```js
/*
Multiline comments are used to introduce a block of code such as a function definition
*/
function demoFunction(param,more) {
	// Proper sentence capitalisation for comments; prefer strict equality checks
	if(condition === "something") {
		// Always use braces, even when optional; no space between "if" and the brackets; always spaces around binary operators
		something = somethingElse;
		myOtherFunction(one,two); // No whitespace within function parameters
		do {
			myCondition.explore(); // Always use semicolons
		} while(myCondition < worsens);
	}	
}

```

!! Strings

Double quotes are preferred over single quotes for string literals.