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Conventions

This document contains coding conventions, and things to watch out for, etc.

Coding conventions

We follow most of the practices as detailed in the Mozilla webdev bootcamp guide.

It is recommended that you install pre-commit

Type hints

When creating and/or modifying Python functions/methods, we add type hints to their arguments and result, but only when it makes sense. See our Architectural Decision Record for more details.

Git conventions

Git workflow

See patching for how we use Git, branches and merging.

Git commit messages

Git commit messages should have the following form:

[bug xxxxxxx] Short summary

Longer explanation with paragraphs and lists and all that where
each line is under 72 characters.

* bullet 1
* bullet 2

Etc. etc.

Summary line should be capitalized, short and should not exceed 50 characters. Why? Because this is a convention many git tools take advantage of.

If the commit relates to a bug, the bug should show up in the summary line in brackets.

There should be a blank line between the summary and the rest of the commit message. Lines should not exceed 72 characters.

See these guidelines for some more explanation.

Git resources and tools

See Webdev bootcamp guide for:

  • helpful resources for learning git
  • helpful tools