Coding rules¶

Packages¶

In order to structure the code of the project, the various elements (classes, functions, libraries, data) are logically organized in packages. This chapter describes the rules to be followed for the definition, management and use of these packages.

The code is mainly located in a single library. This library is organized as a set of modules. However, there may be several interacting libraries in the future.

The library is interfaced with Python through a Python module exposing almost all the classes and operators.

For the moment, the entire set of classes is located in libOT.so for the dynamic part and in libOT.a for the static part.

Example showing the import of modules via the openturns Python package:

import openturns
import openturns.base
import openturns.uncertainty

Example showing the direct import of module operators or classes via the openturns Python package:

from openturns import Point
from openturns.base import Sample
from openturns.uncertainty import RandomVector

File names¶

The definition of filenames obeys a few rules described below, according to the programming languages used. A general rule is preliminarily defined in order to facilitate the automatic generation of the Makefile files. The file names consist of sequences of characters separated by a dot. The first part of the name is called the base and the second is called the suffix (or extension).

Extension	Description
.hxx .hh .hpp	Header file containing the declaration of functions and classes and the definition of templates for C++
.cxx .cc .cpp	Source code file containing the definition (implementation) of C++ functions and classes
.c	Source code file containing the definition of C functions
.h	Header file containing the declaration of functions in C
.py	Python file
.R	R file
.cmake	CMake script
.sh	Shell script
.bat	DOS script
.conf	configuration file
.csv	Comma Separated Value file (for samples)
.i	SWIG interface file
.in	Template file
.log	Output log file
.mws	Maple script file
.nsi	Windows installer file
.sce	Scilab script file
.a	Archive file containing statically linked objects
.so	Shared object file containing dynamically linked objects
.txt	Text file
.xml	XML file (mainly for wrapper description file)
.ll	Lex scanner file
.yy	Yacc parser file

For example, it is not recommended to give the following names to two files in the same directory:

matrix.cxx
Matrix.cxx

C++ Files¶

Example: one file per class:

Sample.hxx declares class Sample
Matrix.hxx declares class Matrix
...

Incorrect example: one file for all classes of a model:

Model.hxx # contains all the declaration of all the classes of the internal model

The preceding rule has one exception: in order to facilitate the use of several related classes, the header files belonging to the same module are grouped in a single header file, which bears the same name as the module and is prefixed by OT.

Example: using all the classes of the Base module:

#include "openturns/OTBase.hxx"

Header files¶

The header files are used to declare functions and classes (they are sometimes called interface definition or interface specification).

Example for a file named Sample.hxx:

#ifndef OPENTURNS_SAMPLE_HXX
#define OPENTURNS_SAMPLE_HXX
...
#endif /* OPENTURNS_SAMPLE_HXX */

Example of header file inclusion:

#include "openturns/OSS.hxx"
#include "openturns/Point.hxx"

Example for the inclusion of system function or external library header files:

#include <cstring>
#include <boost/python.hpp>

Example for the inclusion of non standard system function header files:

 extern "C" (
 #include <nonstandard.h>
)

Test files¶

Example of names for test files:

t_Matrix_construction.cxx
t_Matrix_assignment.cxx
t_Matrix_bug7654.cxx
t_Matrix_vectorMultiplication.cxx

C++¶

This section deals with coding rules for the C++ language.

Compilation flags¶

It is helpful to enable some compilation warnings to avoid questionable constructions. You may also want to enable debug symbols for further use with a debugger.

GCC compilation:

mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter -D_GLIBCXX_ASSERTIONS" ..
make

Namespaces¶

Example of OpenTURNS namespace definition for simple types:

/ **
* @file       OTtypes.hxx
* ...
* /
namespace OT
{
/* < Declarations of simple types > * /

/* < Declarations of objects and functions > * /
};

// Alias for the direct use of XXX
namespace OpenTURNS = OT;

Example of use by making all the definitions contained in the namespace available:

#include "openturns/OT.hxx"
using namespace OT;

void f(Scalar n);

Names¶

Names of classes, variables and methods consist of concatenated ful words. Each word begins with an uppercase, except for the first one. The first word begins with a lowercase except for class names and static methods or variables. No abbreviations are allowed, except if it is found in the literature, for example FORM.

Example:

class Sample {
...
}; /* end class Sample */

Example:

int main() {
Bool myCondition = false;
...
}

Example:

class Environment : public Object {
...
private:
Scalar density_; //<! material density in environment (g/cm3)
...
}; /* end class Environment */

NB: It is common for the underscore to be used as a prefix for private attribute names. However, this method may trigger conflicts with internal variables or definitions used by the compilers. For this reason, the underscore is used as a suffix.

Example:

class Object {
...
private:
static String ClassName_;
...
}; /* end class Object */

Example:

class Object
{
public:
  //* returns a class identifier based on its name
  static  String GetClassName(); ...
}; /* end class Object */

Example:

int
initializeConversion()
{
  static Bool IsInitialized = false;
  if (! IsInitialized) {
    ...
    IsInitialized = true;
  }
};

Example:

const UnsignedInteger MaximumOfRetries = 5;

Example:

int main()
{
  Scalar reactionRate = 0.0;
  ...
}

Example:

class Sample
{
  UnsignedInteger getDimension () const;
  ...
}; /* end class Sample */

Example:

class Sample {
}; /* end class Sample */

void removeElement(const UnsignedInteger index);

Point meanValue;

Example of tolerated notations:

UnsignedInteger i;                // loop indices i, j and k are common
UnsignedInteger j;
UnsignedInteger k;

UnsignedInteger nbMaxElements;    // usual abbreviations: nb, Max

void
addPoint(Point pt) { // no confusion in the context
  add(pt);
}

Incorrect examples:

Scalar a, k, l, m1, m2, m3;
Scalar zzz, zz2;
const char *foo, *hello, tempo, bogus;

void adElt(Point pt);

UnsignedInteger numSmplPt;

Class declaration¶

Example:

class Buffer {
public :
  static AThing GetThing();
protected:
private :
  static AThing TheThing_;

public :
  Scalar getValue() const;
protected :
  Scalar theValue_;
private :
  /* ... */
}; /* end class Buffer */

Example:

class AnyClass {
public :
  /** Default constructor  */
  AnyClass();
  /** Copy constructor */
  AnyClass(const AnyClass & other);
  /** Destructor */
  virtual ~AnyClass();
  /** Copy operator  */
  AnyClass& operator = (const AnyClass & other);
  /** Comparison operator */
  Bool operator == (const AnyClass & other) const;
  /** Stream converter */
  String repr() const;
  String str() const;

  /* other public methods ... */

private :
  UnsignedInteger size_;
  DataType * data_;

  /* other private methods ... */
}; /* end class AnyClass */

Example:

class AnyClass {
public :
  /* ... */
private :
  UnsignedInteger size_;
  DataType * data_;
}; /* end class AnyClass */

Example:

class Vector {
public :
  Vector (Bool someProperty, UnsignedInteger size, Scalar elt = 0.);
private :
  Bool property_;
  Collection<Scalar> data_;
};

Example of a correct definition:

Vector::Vector (Bool someProperty, UnsignedInteger size, Scalar elt)
: property_(someProperty)
, data_(size, elt)
{ }

Examples of incorrect definitions:

Vector::Vector (Bool someProperty, UnsignedInteger size, Scalar elt)
: data_(size, elt)
, property_(someProperty)     // order of initialization
{ }

Vector::Vector (Bool someProperty, UnsignedInteger size, Scalar elt)
{
  property_ = someProperty;
  data_ = Collection<Scalar>(size, elt);
  // requires an assignment after the construction
  // processing is longer for complex objects!
}

Example: declaration of a pure virtual class A and of class B, derived from A:

class A {
public :
  A();                  // constructor
  virtual ~A();          // destructor
  virtual const char * getClassName() = 0;       // pure virtual method
};

class B : public A {
public :
  const char * getClassName() { return "B"; }
};

Incorrect definitions leading to an execution error:

A::A() {
cout << getClassName() << " created" << endl; // B does not exist yet!
}

A::~A() {
cout << getClassName() << " destroyed" << endl; // B no longer exists!
}

B::B() : A()
{ }

Write method for the name attribute:

void            setName (SimpleType);
void setName    (const ComposedType &);

Read method for the name attribute:

SimpleType              getName() const;
const ComposedType &    getName() const;

Example:

class Sample {
public :
  //* return the dimension of the sample
  UnsignedInteger getDimension() const;

  //* return the i-th element
  Point         operator[] (UnsignedInteger i);
  const Point & operator[] (UnsignedInteger i) const;
};

Example:

class Sample {
public :
  //* return the number of the rod
  inline UnsignedInteger getDimension() const { return dimension_; }

  //* compute the mean point of the sample
  inline Point computeMeanValue() const;
};

//* inline methods
Point computeMeanValue() const;
{
/* ... some non trivial processing */
return meanValue;
}

Explicit keyword¶

Marking a single argument class constructors with the explicit keyword allows one to avoid unwanted conversions.

It is relevant for constructors that have a single-argument, and also for constructors that have a single mandatory argument plus optional arguments.

Single argument:

class A {
public :
  explicit A(const Point value);
};

Optional argument:

class A {
public :
  explicit A(UnsignedInteger max = 6);
};

Mandatory argument and optional argument:

class A {
public :
  explicit A(const Point value, UnsignedInteger max = 6);
};

Inheritance¶

Example: the Point class derives from the Vector class:

class Point : public std::vector<double> {
public:
  Point(Scalar x,
        Scalar y,
        Scalar z);
};

Point::Point(Scalar x, Scalar y,
Scalar z)
: std::vector<double>(3)
{
  (*this)[0] = x;
  (*this)[1] = y;
  (*this)[2] = z;
}

Example:

class Object {
public :
  Object();
  virtual ~Object();
};

Function and method declaration¶

 /** @brief <short description>
 *
 * <Long description>
 * @param argument_1 <description>
 * @param argument_2 <description>
 * @return           <description>
 * @throw            <description>
 */
 ReturnType
 functionName (
 TypeArgument_1       argument_1,
 TypeArgument_2   argument_2
);

Correct example:Correct

void send(const String & message);

Incorrect example:

void send(String message);

Correct example:

Buffer & append(UnsignedInteger);
Buffer & append(const String &);
Buffer & append(Scalar);

Incorrect example:

Buffer & append(const char *fmt, ...);
Buffer & append(const char *str = 0, double d = 0., int i = 0);

Variable declaration¶

An atomic variable type (integer, bool, pointer, …) must be always initialized to a value to avoid undefined behavior. This includes initialization of class attributes.

Correct example:

String         filename (""); // library file name
UnsignedInteger nbElements = 0; // number of elements into the data file
UnsignedInteger i = 0;
Scalar f = 0.0;

Accepted example:

UnsignedInteger i = 0, j = 0, k = 0;     // indices

Incorrect example:

/ * Multiple declarations and different types * /
UnsignedInteger   i, j, tab[20], **l, *numberOfElements;
String        filename, *yourname, myname;

Constant declaration¶

The const keyword must be used as much as possible. Float constants must include the decimal separator and a at least a digit to explicitly distinguish them from integers.

Example:

const Scalar f = 6.0;
const UnsignedInteger maximumIterations = 32;
const char printFormat[] = "%s:line %d, %s";

Incorrect example:

#define MAXIMUM_ITERATIONS 32;
#define PRINT_FORMAT       "%s:line %d, %s"

Comments and internal documentation¶

/**
* @brief short description
*
* <LGPL copyright>
*
* Copyright 2005-20YY Airbus-EDF-IMACS-ONERA-Phimeca
*/

These comments should avoid:

mentioning the names of variables;
being a simple transcription of the code into English.

Memory allocation and deallocation¶

This section discusses general rules for allocating and freeing memory. It will later be supplemented by rules regarding the use of basic classes in order to manage the lifecycle of objects in memory.

Example to favor:

{
  Scalar sections1[MAX]; // a fixed size array
  vector<Scalar> sections2; // an extensible vector
  list<Volume> volumes; // a list of volumes

  /* ... */
}

Example to avoid:

{
  Scalar *sections = new Scalar[MAX];
  list<Volume>    *volumes  = new list<Volume>;

  /* ... */

  delete [ ] sections;
  delete volumes;
}

Correct example:

{
  Volume *volume = new Volume;   // memory allocation +
  // constructor call
  /* ... */
  delete volume;                 // destructor call +
  volume = 0;                    // memory deallocation
}

Incorrect example:

{
  Volume *volume = (Volume*)malloc(sizeof(Volume));
  // memory allocation but
  // no constructor call
  /* ... */
  free(volume);                // no destructor call before
  volume = 0;                    // memory deallocation
}

Example:

A *     a = new A[40]; // calls the constructor 40 times
...

delete a;              // incorrect: the table is freed,
// the ~A destructor isn't called

delete [] a;           // correct: the table is freed,
// the ~A destructor is called 40 times

List of declaration files for the smart pointer:

#include "openturns/Pointer.hxx"

Assignment and initialization¶

Complex types (class types) must use copy constructors if available instead of using the default constructor and then the copy operator for performance. Atomic types (integer, bool, …) can use the copy operator for readability.

Example:

Point p2(p1);
Bool a = b;

Example to avoid:

String message;
message = "Computation complete"; // assignment after construction

String message(); // declaration of a function prorotype

Instructions¶

Example:

i = 0;
while (i < MAX) {
  ++i;
  f(i);
}

Examples to avoid if possible:

a = b = c = 0;
// multiple assignments

f(++i);
// readability

v = *i++;
// performance and understandability

for(i = 1, j = 2, k = 3; i < N; j++, i++);
// understandability and readability

Incorrect examples:

buffer += "test", cout << buffer; i = 1;
// heterogeneous processing &
// different objects

while(f(++i), i < MAX);
// processing carried out before the test

Prohibited example:

void foo() {
  for(...) {
    phase1 :
    /* ... */
    phase2 :
    if(errno != 0)
      goto erreur;
    if (/* a test */)
      goto phase2;
  }
  erreur :
  /* error handling */
}

Note: error handling can be easily replaced with exception handling, and the use of goto for the needs of algorithms can always be replaced with a conditional structure or a loop.

Example: error handling

Scalar
compute(UnsignedInteger n) {
  Scalar result;
  if(n < MIN || n > MAX) {
    char msg[BUFSIZ];
    // automatic allocation for the processing
    sprintf (msg,
    "n = %d is out of range, valid range is [%d, %d]",
    n, MIN, MAX);
    throw Exception(msg);
  }
  /* ... */
  return result;
}

Examples to avoid:

Scalar
compute(UnsignedInteger n) {
  Scalar result;
  Char    msg[BUFSIF];   // allocation unnecessary if no
  // error
  if(n < MIN || n > MAX)
  ...
}

Correct example:

switch (errno) {
case ENOENT :
msg = " ... ";

break;
case EACCESS :
msg = " ... ";
break;
default :
msg = "unknown error";
break;
}

Accepted example - processing multiple targets with the same block:

switch (errno) {
case ENOENT :
case EACCESS :
msg = " impossible to access file ";
break;
default :
/* ... */
break;
}

Incorrect example:

switch (errno) {
case 1 :                // it is a value
msg = " ... "; //
// "break" is missing,
// processing continues in ENOENT
case ENOENT :
msg = " ... ";
break;
default :               // "break" is missing at the
// end of the "default" case
msg = "unknown error";
}

Incorrect example - use of the switch as a goto:

switch (phase) {
case PHASE1 :
doPhaseOne();
case PHASE2 :
doPhaseTwo();
break;
default :
/* ... */
}

Example:

int
main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
/* ... */
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Exceptions¶

The ability to raise and handle exceptions is one of the strongest features of C++. However, writing functions and methods that guarantee a safe behavior when faced with exceptions remains a difficult aspect of programming.

This chapter describes how to define and use exceptions in the source code.

Example of Exception use:

class Exception {
public :
  Exception (const char *description, const char * comment = 0);
  virtual ~Exception() throw();
  /* ... */
  friend ostream & operator<< (ostream &, const Exception & e);
};

Example of specialization of Exception in order to report an off-range error:

class OutOfBoundException : public Exception {
public:
  OutOfBoundException(/* ... */)
  : Exception(/* ... */) { }
};

Example of specialization of Exception in order to report an off-range error with a macro-instruction:

NEW_EXCEPTION(OutOfBoundException);

Incorrect example:

try {
// phase 1
// phase 2
if (result != OK)
throw GotoPhase4();
// phase 3

/* ... */
catch (GotoPhase4 e) {
/* ... */
}
// phase 4

Exception handling¶

An exception should be thrown when the library encounters conditions under which it cannot operate.

When coding a new functionality, define a sufficient condition under which the functionality will work correctly, and have it throw an Exception if this condition is not met.

Correct example:

// Throw if a probability does not belong to [0,1]
if (!( (proba >= 0.0) && (proba <= 1.0) ))
    throw InvalidArgumentException(HERE) << "Error: a probability should belong to [0,1]"
                                         << " but is " << proba;

Typically, it is easier to think about conditions that are sufficient to make the functionality not work correctly, but this way of thinking has two drawbacks:

It can lead the programmer to forget situations in which the functionality does not work.
If the test is performed on a floating point number (Scalar), a possible NaN value will not be caught.

NaN (Not a Number) is a value that can be taken by floating point numbers to represent a missing value or the result of an illicit arithmetical operation (0/0 for example). It has the following properties:

When standard functions like sqrt and max are passed NaN as one of their arguments, they return NaN.
All comparison operators except != return False if either operand is NaN. The boolean a!=b is True if either a or b (or even both) is NaN.

Because of this second property, the following example fails to catch a possible NaN value.

Incorrect example:

// Throw if a probability is lower than 0 or larger than 1
if ( (proba < 0.0) || (proba > 1.0) )
    throw InvalidArgumentException(HERE) << "Error: a probability should belong to [0,1]"
                                         << " but is " << proba;

Because only floating point numbers can be NaN, this rule is only imperative for Exception checks involving floating point numbers. You are free to disregard the rule for Exception checks that only involve integers.

When the sufficient condition under which the functionality works is an equality, use a!=b as a shorthand for !(a==b).

Example:

// The covariance must be null
if (covariance(i, j) != 0.0)
    throw InvalidArgumentException(HERE) << "Error: covariance(" << i << ", " << j << ") should be null.";

When the sufficient condition under which the functionality works is that some number must be different from some value, find a way to express this that does not involve the != operator, because !(a!=b) is equivalent to a==b. Both are False if either a or b is NaN.

For example, if you want to write that some nonnegative scalar should not be zero, then write that is must be positive instead.

Incorrect example:

// Generalized number of degrees of freedom must not be zero.
if (nu == 0.0) throw InvalidArgumentException(HERE) << "Nu MUST be positive";

Correct example:

// Generalized number of degrees of freedom must be positive.
if (!(nu > 0.0)) throw InvalidArgumentException(HERE) << "Nu MUST be positive";

Error messages¶

Example:

String message;
Log::Debug(message);
Log::Info(message);
Log::User(message);
Log::Warning(message);
Log::Error(message);

These rules refer to the classes and methods in the Python layer using the services of the internal model and the solvers.

C++ 11¶

The library requires the C++ 11 standard. Some useful features include:

std::atomic
std::vector::data()
std::shared_ptr
constructor delegation
default member initializers
list initialization
override keyword

Example: constructor delegation:

class Foo
{
  Foo (int a, int b), a_(a), b_(b)
  Foo () : Foo(4, 6)

  int a_, b_;
};

Example: default member initializers:

class Foo
{
  Foo();

  int a_ = 0;
};

Example: list initialization:

const Indices indices = {1, 2, 3};
const Description desc = {"mu", "sigma"};

Python¶

Modules and packages¶

Example of tolerated notations:

import matplotlib
from matplotlib import pylab
import numpy as np

Incorrect examples:

from scipy import *

Names¶

Examples: RandomVector, Sample.

Examples:

rv = RandomVector()
dim = rv.getDimension()

Comments and internal documentation¶

Example of documentation string for the class AnotherSample:

#
# <detailed description for documentation tools such as HappyDoc>
#
class AnotherSample :
"""
this class is designed to ...
"""
#
# <detailed description for developers and documentation tools>
def __init__(self, name, type, range = None, doc = "") :
"""constructor -- """
...
#
# <detailed description for developers and documentation tools>
def computeSomething(self, value):
"""run the well-known Schmoll Algorithm...
"""

Indentation¶

The python code should use 4 spaces per indentation level. For more information about python formatting, refer to PEP8.

OpenTURNS

An Open source initiative for the Treatment of Uncertainties, Risks'N Statistics

Table of Contents

Previous topic

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This Page

Coding rules¶

Packages¶

File names¶

C++ Files¶

Header files¶

Test files¶

C++¶

Compilation flags¶

Namespaces¶

Names¶

Class declaration¶

Explicit keyword¶

Inheritance¶

Function and method declaration¶

Variable declaration¶

Constant declaration¶

Comments and internal documentation¶

Memory allocation and deallocation¶

Assignment and initialization¶

Instructions¶

Exceptions¶

Exception handling¶

Error messages¶

C++ 11¶

Python¶

Modules and packages¶

Names¶

Comments and internal documentation¶

Indentation¶