gta-reversed-modern/docs/CodingGuidelines.MD

General rules

• Do not change code already written unless it's related to your contribution or absolutely needed.
• Please check and try to eliminate warnings from your code.

Code style

• 4 space indentation, LF line endings
• No hungarian notation [It's useless]
• In classes, use m_ prefix to nonstatic member variables and ms_ for static members. Do not use a prefix in structs.
• Use s_ for global variables that are only used in one source file, otherwise use g_.
• If some rule about something is not specified here, refer to how it's done in the code
• Some classes may have helper functions to make code more readable. (Denoted by NOTSA) - Try adding new ones, or looking for and using them.
• If you made helper functions in a source file, mark them as static.
• Prefer get-ters/set-ters over raw member access
• Use range-based for loops as much as possible.
• Use ranges versions of std functions as much as possible.
• Use rng:: instead of std::ranges and rngv:: instead of std::views.
• We encourage you to write modern C++, but if that's not your style, please keep the following in mind:
• Use ranges versions of std functions as much as possible.
• Use rng:: instead of std::ranges and rngv:: instead of std::views.

for (auto& element : array); // <-- GOOD

for (int i = 0; i < std::size(array); i++); // <-- BAD

• Use rngv::enumerate if you need both the index and object.

for (auto&& [i, e] : rngv::enumerate(array));

• If there's a dynamic count variable associated with a fixed size array, use std::span or rng::views::take. E.g.:

// Bad
for (auto i = 0u; i < m_numThings; i++);

// Good
for (auto& thing : std::span{ m_things, m_numThings });
// Also good
for (auto& thing : m_things | rng::views::take(m_numThings));

// ^ If these funcs are called more than once, make a helper function in the header. Like below:
auto GetActiveThings() {
    return std::span{ m_things, m_numThings }
}

• Use f in float literals [As omitting it would make them a double] (e.g. 1.0f)
• Use std library for generic functions like min, max, lerp, etc...
• CVector is interchangible with 3 floats [As is CVector2D with 2 floats] for function args
• Use lambdas for repetitive procedures in functions
• Use constexpr variables instead of macros
• Use static inline instead of extern and static in headers:

class Foo {
    static uint32& m_FooCount; // Bad

    static inline auto& m_FooCount = StaticRef<uint32, 0xDEADBEEF>(); // Good
}

Types

• Use auto in function bodies if the variables' type is guessable.
• Guess for enum values [Or at least leave a TODO comment]
• Take care of const correctness [Especially of class methods] (e.g. const char* over char*)
• Try to use SA types over RW as much as possible, except RwMatrix. (e.g. CVector for RwV3d, CRGBA for RwRGBA)
• Use fixed width integer types (e.g. uint8, int32).
• Do not use Win32 integer types. [Except for Win32 exclusive code] (e.g. DWORD -> uint32)
• For array sizes, etc... prefer using unsigned types over signed ones
• Whenever possible use std::array over C-Style array [as the former has bounds checking in debug mode, and can help us discover many bugs]

Fixing bugs

Whenever you find a bug, we encourage you to fix it [and/or at least] leave a comment explaining what the bug is. Bug fixes should only be active if notsa::IsFixBugs() returns true. If that's not possible [due to code complexity], then wrap into an #ifdef:

#ifdef FIX_BUGS
// Bug fixing code here
#endif

Handling translated (GXT) text

• GXT code page is a partial superset of ASCII, it's one-to-one except for ^, [ and ]. (translated to ¡, < and > respectively)
• GXT encoded characters are 1-byte long and strings are null-terminated. They can be used in char typed C copy/compare functions.
• Do not assume anything other than above for GXT strings.
• Use AsciiToGxtChar and GxtCharToUTF8 for safely converting. UTF-8 strings should be safe to print and manipulate in general.
• Use AsciiFromGxtChar (or ""_gxt for literals) and GxtCharFromAscii for implicitly converting. You must be sure that all characters are ASCII.

Contributing

Please make sure to test your code before opening a PR. Guess what places/missions are affected by your code and test them. Use debug menu (F7) for quick access to stuff.

If you don't know how to test the code or think you have not tested enough specify it in the PR message.