Code Style & Autoformatting | Spartan Design VRC

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Keyboard shortcut: Shift+Alt+F (Windows/Linux) or Shift+Option+F (Mac) autoformats the current file instantly. Run before every commit.

The Core Style Rules for VRC C++

Avoid

void intakefwd(){ intake.move(127);if(x>5) {doSomething();}}

Prefer

void intakeForward() { intake.move(127); if (x > 5) { doSomething(); } }

Naming Conventions

Functions — camelCase starting with lowercase: intakeForward(), armGoTo(int pos)
Constants — ALL_CAPS_WITH_UNDERSCORES: MAX_ARM_HEIGHT, STALL_CURRENT_MA
Variables — camelCase: armTarget, isStalled, stallStartTime
Classes/Enums — PascalCase: IntakeState, ClawState
Files — lowercase with hyphens or underscores: intake.cpp, robot-config.cpp

Comment Rules

// GOOD: Explains WHY, not what (the code already shows what) // 300ms timer prevents false positives during motor startup current spike const int STALL_TIME_MS = 300; // BAD: Restates the code — adds no information // Set stall time to 300 const int STALL_TIME_MS = 300; // GOOD: Section headers for navigation within long files // ── Drive Control ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── // GOOD: Tuning note with date and context // Tuned 2025-01-15: reduced kP from 5.0 to 4.2 — was overshooting 3 inches

VS Code Autoformat Setup

Shift+Alt+FFormat current file (Windows/Linux)

Shift+⌥+FFormat current file (Mac)

Ctrl+Shift+POpen Command Palette → type "Format Document"

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  [Image Placeholder: VS Code before/after autoformat — messy indentation on left, clean formatting on right after Shift+Alt+F]

To enable format on save (recommended for team projects): open VS Code Settings, search for editor.formatOnSave, and enable it. Now every file is formatted automatically when you save — no manual step needed.

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Add a .clang-format file to your project root to enforce consistent brace and indentation style across all team members' VS Code setups. A minimal one: create .clang-format with content BasedOnStyle: Google. This applies Google’s C++ style guide, which is clean and well-suited to PROS projects.

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Style is notebook evidence too. Screenshots of well-organized, consistently styled code with meaningful comments demonstrate software engineering discipline. Judges who look at code excerpts in engineering notebooks can tell the difference between a team that treats code as craft vs one that treats it as a necessary evil.

⚙ STEM Highlight Technology: Readability, Maintainability & Technical Debt

Code style is not cosmetic — it is information design. Research in software engineering consistently shows that code is read 10× more often than it is written. Naming is the primary documentation: armTargetPosition communicates intent; x does not. Technical debt is the accumulated cost of messy code: when you need to change something quickly at a competition, unreadable code costs time you do not have. Auto-formatting (Shift+Alt+F) enforces a consistent grammar — just as academic writing follows style guides, code follows formatting conventions.

🎤 Interview line: “We treat code style as engineering discipline. Consistent naming and formatting reduce cognitive load when debugging under pressure at a competition. We use .clang-format to enforce rules automatically — the same approach used in every professional software development environment.”

Common Style Mistakes

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Inconsistent indentation — mixing tabs and spaces causes IntelliSense to misread scope. Always use spaces (Shift+Alt+F fixes this automatically).

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Cryptic variable names — x, val, temp in production code make debugging impossible for teammates and coaches.

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Magic numbers — intake.move(127) tells you nothing. intake.move(MAX_INTAKE_SPEED) is self-documenting and easy to change globally.

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The teammate test: if a teammate has never seen your code, can they understand what each function does in under 30 seconds? If not, rename or add a comment.