General Coding Standards › HLL Coding Standards for Programs

HLL Coding Standards for Programs

Program coding standards are designed not only to make programs as readable as possible at a workstation, but also to achieve a high degree of consistency in the way in which programs are structured and the style in which they are laid out. This makes it much easier for different programmers to examine and maintain each other's work. It also makes it easier to copy sections of code from one place to another.

There are a number of general principles to which HLL code should adhere, regardless of the HLL used. Good code should be:

• Clear: It should be obvious from the code what the code does.
• Consistent: Use the same standard techniques throughout.
• Modular: Function should be isolated into self-contained units that can be reused. Each module should have a well-defined interface.
• Structured: Each module should be systematically built up from regular constructs.
• Robust: You should avoid coding in limits (for instance array size). You should anticipate possible errors and code for a graceful collapse.

The following general standards apply to coding source for all program types, such as RPG III, CL, PL/I, and CBL.