Tower Style Guide

General Documentation Semantics

Write in a conversational style.
- Use pronouns: I, we, you, they.
- Use colloquial expressions: a sure thing, turn-on, rip-off, OK.
- Use contractions: they're, you're, it's, here's, we've, I'm.
- Use simple words.
- If you must choose between writing naturally and being grammatically correct, write naturally.
```
// yay
I'm going home.
It's simple.

// nay
I am going home.
It is simple.
```

JavaScript

Define var one at a time (don't use leading/trailing commas):

// yay
var event = require('event');
var dom = require('dom');
var assert = require('assert');

// nay
var event = require('event'),
    dom = require('dom'),
    assert = require('assert');

// nay
var event = require('event')
  , dom = require('dom')
  , assert = require('assert');

While the later two are minimally more optimized, minifiers like uglifyjs will make these optimizations for you. So write what is most human readable.

Use trailing commas for multi-line arrays.

// yay
var events = [
  'click',
  'keypress',
  'focusin',
  'focusout'
];

// nay
var events = [
    'click'
  , 'keypress'
  , 'focusin'
  , 'focusout'
];

Use trailing commas for multi-line objects.

// yay
var styles = {
  color: '#000',
  background: '#fff',
  width: 100,
  height: 200
};

// nay
var styles = {
    color: '#000'
  , background: '#fff'
  , width: 100
  , height: 200
};

Always use " double quotes when declaring JSON keys and values.

// yay
{
  "myKey": "string",
  "myArray": ["some stuff", "more stuff"]
}

// nay
{
  myKey: 'string',
  'myArray': ['some stuff', 'more stuff']
}

For strings that are not defined in JSON, default to declaring strings with ' single quotes. In the case where your string contains special format characters or ' single quotes, use " double quotes.
```
// yay
var str = '"Marty" is at the party!';
var specialStr = "im'oto";

// nay
var str = "\"Marty\" is at the party!";
var specialStr = 'im\'oto';
```

For assigned functions, have no whitespace between parentheses and brackets: ){ vs. ) {.

// yay
exports.init = function(){
  this.x;
};

// nay
exports.init = function() {
  this.x;
};

For callback functions, do the same thing.

// yay
route('/users')
  .on('exec', function(){

  });

// nay
route('/users')
  .on('exec', function() {

  });

For non-assigned functions, do it the other way around.
```
// yay
function init() {
  this.x;
};

// nay
function init(){
  this.x;
};
```
This distinguishes the function declarations and function expressions.

Indent DSL methods if they are in a new object scope.

// yay
adapter('facebook')
  .model('user')
    .attr('username')
    .action('create')
    .action('find')
      .param('page', 'integer')
  .model('like');

// nay
adapter('facebook')
  .model('user').attr('username').action('create')
  .action('find')
  .param('page', 'integer')
  .model('like');

Keep 1 space between native methods and parentheses (if, while, for, etc.).
```
// yay
if (x) y();

// nay
if(x) y();
```

Emit event names in the present tense as verb [object|property].

// yay
this.emit('define', user);
this.emit('define user', user);

// nay
this.emit('defined user', user);
this.emit('user defined', user);
this.emit('user define', user);

Emit namespaced events from most generic to most specific. This way, you can mixin more generic stuff first, and use those generic methods on specific objects.

// yay
this.emit('define', user);
this.emit('define facebook', user);
this.emit('define facebook.user', user);

// nay
this.emit('define facebook.user', user);
this.emit('define facebook', user);
this.emit('define', user);

Pass the this as context for the first parameter in DSL methods, instead of using this as a reference. The context is stated more clearly.

// yay
route('/users')
  .on('request', function(context, next){
    context.render();
  });

// nay
route('/users')
  .on('request', function(next){
    this.render();
  });

Place the compared value on the left instead of the right. This is unnatural at first, but it makes the code much easier to read for a newcomer.
```
// yay
if ('string' === typeof(x))
  exec();

// nay
if (typeof(x) === 'string')
  exec();
```
The reason for this is, the compared-to value (e.g. 'string') is first, so it reads if ('string') exec().

Leave 1 empty line at the *top of each file.

\n
/**
 * Blank line above.
 */

/**
 * No blank line above
 */

Leave 0 empty lines at the bottom of each file.

Leave 1 blank line between comments and code.

/**
 * GOOD
 */

exports.init = function(){

};

/**
 * BAD
 */
exports.init = function(){

};

For loops should be as efficient and clean as possible.

// yay
for (var i = 0, n = arr.length; i < n; i++) {}

// nay
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {}

Single letter variables should only be used within loops (basically for loops).

 // yay
 for (var i = 0, n = arr.length; i < n; i++) {}

 // nay
 for (var index = 0, size = arr.length; index < size; index++) {}

For each loops (for loops but with objects) should have safe guards, which is a general good JavaScript practice.

// yay
for (var key in obj) {
  if (obj.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
    delete obj[key];
  }
}

// nay   
for (var key in obj) {
  delete obj[key];
}

Use obj.init() instead of new Obj, where obj.create() should do some db/service call.
```
// yay
var newObj = obj.init();

// nay
var newObj = new Obj();
```

For single-line arrays and objects, put one space before/after containing brackets.

// yay
[ 'i386', 'x86_64' ]
{ status: 'active' }

// nay
['i386', 'x86_64']
{status: 'active'}

Avoid aligning signs such as =, :, etc. The reason is, while it does create some symmetry, it makes the code a little harder to read.

// yay
var x = 1;
var foo = 'bar';
var hello = 'world';

// nay
var x     = 1;
var foo   = 'bar';
var hello = 'world';

If a ternary statement is too long, put it on multiple lines with ? and : at the start of the line.

// yay
exports.query = function(name){
  return null == name
    ? query().start(this.className)
    : query(name);
}

// nay
exports.query = function(name){
  return null == name ?
    query().start(this.className) :
    query(name);
}

If you are building a multiline string, use + at the beginning of the line.

// yay
var string = 'some '
  + 'long '
  + 'string ';

// nay
var string = 'some ' +
  'long ' +
  'string ';

// nay
var string = 'some \
  long \
  string ';

In EcmaScript 6, you'll be able to use backticks for multi-line strings.

Repos

Name your projects using lowercase with hyphens.

// yay
var myProject = require('my-project');

// nay
var myProject = require('myProject');
var myProject = require('MyProject');

Events

These are all of the events used in Tower. When creating custom APIs, see if these events can be used before defining another. Maybe we can even cut it down.

emit('define');
emit('init');
emit('exec');
emit('open');
emit('close');
emit('connect');
emit('disconnect');
emit('render');
emit('request');
emit('error');
emit('data');

Maybe route.on('request') becomes route.on('exec'). And route.on('connect') becomes route.on('open').

Tests

Use easy to scan/understand syntax for assertions.

// yay
assert(true === val);
assert(false === val);
assert('foo' === val);
assert(undefined === val);

// nay
assert.isTrue(val);
assert.isFalse(val);
assert.equal('foo', val);
assert.isUndefined(val);
// - should syntax
val.should.be(undefined);

Comments

Here is the general structure of a good comment:

/**
 * Iterate each value and invoke `fn(val, i)`.
 *
 *    users.each(function(val, i){
 *
 *    });
 *
 * @param {Function} fn
 * @return {Object} self
 * @api public
 */

proto.forEach = function(fn){
  // ...
  return this;
};

Readme Structure

The basic format:

Title
Installation
Examples (optional)
API
Running Tests
Contributing
Notes (optional)
License

# Title

Quick description (1-2 sentences).

## Installation

node.js:

```
npm install tower-project
```

browser:

```
component install tower/project
```

## Example

```js
var project = require('tower-project');

// ...
```

## API

Optional brief intro.

### .on(event, fn, [capture])

Short description of some method:

```js
dom('a.remove').on('click', function(e){

});
```

### .on(event, selector, fn, [capture])

Bind delegate `event` handler function for `selector`:

```js
dom('ul li').on('click', 'a.remove', function(e){

});
```

## Running Tests

Install testem:

```bash
$ npm install -g testem
```

Run tests:

```bash
$ testem
```

Then, open all the browsers you want to test by going to the outputted url defaulted to [http://localhost:7357](http://localhost:7357)

Tests will run on any open browser linked to the stated url and your current node environment.

## Contributing

Before you send a pull request, make sure your code meets the style guidelines at [https://github.com/tower/style-guide](https://github.com/tower/style-guide) and all tests pass.

## Notes

This section is optional, but where you'd write whatever, 
like design decisions, when to use, overview, etc. 
Here you could go into the theory too (distributed data, etc.).

## Licence

MIT

tower-style-guide

Tower Style Guide

General Documentation Semantics

JavaScript

Repos

Events

Tests

Comments

Readme Structure

Examples

Readme

Keywords

Package Sidebar

Install

Weekly Downloads

Version

License

Last publish

Collaborators

tower-style-guide

Tower Style Guide

General Documentation Semantics

JavaScript

Repos

Events

Tests

Comments

Readme Structure

Examples

Readme

Keywords

Package Sidebar

Install

DownloadsWeekly Downloads

Version

License

Last publish

Collaborators

Weekly Downloads