Coding Conventions

Variables/Data

• Variable names
  • lowerCamelCase
• Constant names
  • UPPER_SNAKE_CASE
  • This includes environment variables
• No magic numbers
  • Always use constants where applicable
  • If you find yourself changing the same value in multiple places it should probably be a constant
• JSON key names
  • lower_snake_case for constant values (e.g. data returned by API)
  • lowerCamelCase if using them in a similar way to const and let

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Functions

• Function names
  • Should be short and descriptive (indicative of what function does)
  • Don't add 'function' on the end of the function name
  • e.g. getData(), not getDataFunction()
• Function declarations
  • Named arrow functions where possible
    • e.g. const func = (x, y) => { ... }
  • Otherwise use function keyword assigned to a const
    • e.g. const func = function (x, y) { ... }
    • This is most similar to the arrow function so makes it uniform/easy to read
• Avoid anonymous functions where possible (function names are useful for error tracing and indicating what it does)
  • Exception to this is for callback functions

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Brackets

• Put opening curly brackets on the same line for if, for and while
  • e.g. if (...) {
  • NOT if (...) </br>{
• Entry point of program at top
• Called methods below caller method
• Catching errors (err)
• Always use curly braces, even if one statement follows the if/for/arrow function
• DON'T USE var
• Always use const if the value won't change
• Otherwise use let