Igniters, I would like to discuss a potential change to the coding guidelines for Ignite 3. Currently, we're using the existing guidelines inherited from Ignite 2, which are described here: https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/IGNITE/Coding+Guidelines
Current guidelines, however, exist for many years and have several issues. They are cumbersome, carry a lot of legacy stuff, and can't be automated. Every now and then, they seem to cause questions and confusion. While it's hard to make drastic changes in Ignite 2, we still have a great opportunity to update the guidelines in Ignite 3. I would identify two major goals here: 1. Simplification. Having too many rules and restrictions tend to complicate development rather than providing any value. We should come up with a minimum set of rules and then make amends one by one if needed. 2. The ability for automation. I hold a strong belief that code style checking has to become a part of the build. Therefore, we need to make sure that any rule that ends up in the guideline can be automatically verified. I propose the following process to define the new guideline: 1. Use Google code style as the starting point: https://google.github.io/styleguide/javaguide.html 2. Replace the 100 column limit with 140. The latter is the value we already use in Ignite 2, and it seems to be more reasonable, in my opinion. 3. Use 4 spaces block indentation and 8 spaces for continuation (as opposed to 2 and 4). Nothing wrong with 2 spaces, in my view, but 4 spaces should provide a smoother transition, as we're really used to this style. 4. For any other changes, initiate separate discussions going forward. Several reasons why I specifically propose Google style: 1. This is essentially the standard for many projects. I don't think there is a need for us to reinvent the wheel. 2. It's minimalistic and developer-friendly. No overcomplication. 3. (probably the most important) It comes with all the required tools and configurations for automation (e.g., here is the config for IDEA: https://github.com/google/error-prone/blob/master/.idea/GoogleStyle.xml) Please let me know what you think. If there are no objections, I will start the process. -Val
