TDP :: Code Contraints

Version 1.0 - Jean-René Bédard - 22/12/2004 - Initial


Coding constraints and conventions
To be consistent with the source engine, we should follow the coding conventions already in place in the SDK code.

Classes, structures and enum names - CClassName for a server class.
- C_ClassName for a client class.
- IClassName for interfaces.

- Sufix "_t" :
Members and methods of classes - m_variable for variables members of a class. (Begin by "m_").
- FunctionName() for methods of a class. (Begin by a capital letter, no underscore).
Header files

- Use forward declarations whenever possible.
- Inline whenever possible.
- Use the following syntax to avoid mutliple inclusions :

#ifndef FILENAME_H
#define FILENAME_H
#ifdef _WIN32
#pragma once
#endif

// declarations.......

#endif // FILENAME_H


Source files - memdbgon must be included last in a .cpp file (#include "tier0/memdbgon.h")

- For shared code, the Client-Server abstraction should be done like this, using the CLIENT_DLL macro :

#ifdef CLIENT_DLL
#include "c_tdp_player.h"
#else
#include "tdp_player.h"
#endif
Data structures - We should not use STL, instead we'll use the templated utility library (CUtl*) from Valve.

class CUtlBuffer Command parsing, not recommanded?
class CUtlCachedFileData To put data in a LRU type of cache.
class CUtlDict Dictionary mapping from symbol to structure.
class CUtlFixedLinkedList Linked list with no node displacement.
class CUtlFixedMemory Fixed size memory.
class CUtlHash Hash table.
class CUtlLinkedList Index-based linked list.
class CUtlMap Associative container. similar to std::map.
class CUtlMemory Growable memory class (doubles in size by default).
class CUtlMultiList Index-based linked list, can contain sub-lists.
class CUtlPriorityQueue FIFO with priority
class CUtlRBTree Red-black binary search tree.
class CUtlSortVector Sorted order-preserving vector
class CUtlVector Growable array class (doubles in size by default).
class CUtlVectorFixed Array class with a fixed allocation scheme

- User smart pointers CSmartPtr whenever using a collection of dynamicly allocated objects.
Math - We should use the math classes provided by Valve :

class Vector 3D Vector (x,y,z) class.
class Vector32 Compressed 3D vector into 32bits
class Vector2D 2D Vector (x,y) class.
class Vector4D 4D Vector (x,y,z,w) (with homogenous factor) class.
struct cplane_t Plane struct.
class VPlane Plane class.
class Frustum_t 6 Planes Frustrum class.
struct matrix3x4_t 3 by 4 matrix struct.
class VMatrix 4 by 4 matrix class.
class QAngle Euler angles (pitch, yaw, roll) class.
class Quaternion Quaternion angles (x,y,z,w) class.