= Coding Guide =

<<TableOfContents>>

This page is a loose collection of various coding guides and tips for FreeSurfer programmers.

== VTK cvs commit Guidelines and Coding Standards ==

VTK has excellent [[http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK_cvs_commit_Guidelines|cvs commit guidelines]] and [[http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK_Coding_Standards|coding standards]], the following of which is highly recommended when working with the FreeSurfer code.

== Code format style ==

 * Consistent usage of either ANSI-style or GNU-style braces.
 * Do not use tabs.  Setup your editor to convert tabs to spaces.  
 * 2 spaces per indent (tab).
 * Do not exceed 80 characters per line.
 * Delete trailing whitespace from end of line.

The script [[attachment:~nicks/bin/do-astyle-onefile]] will reformat a file to these conventions, making use of the [[http://astyle.sourceforge.net/|'astyle' utility]].

== MRI Cheat Sheet ==

[[DevelopersGuide/CodingGuide/MRICheatSheet|MRI cheat sheet]]

Ever wonder when you should use MRIcopy() vs MRIclone()? DougGreve has drawn up a little cheat sheet for some of these MRI functions.

== Naming Conventions ==

[[DevelopersGuide/CodingGuide/NamingConventions|A page of naming convention suggestions.]]