Programming Practices

Established practices help you read standard code patterns, and identify deviations.

Examples:

Use getopt to parse command line arguments.
Standard:
    while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "mo:ps:tx")) != -1)
        switch(ch) {
        [...]
        case 'x':
            if (!domd5)
                requiremd5("-x");
            MDTestSuite();
            nomd5stdin = 1;
            break;
        case '?':
        default:
            usage();
        }
    argc -= optind;
    argv += optind;

Deviation:
    while (argc > 1 && argv[1][0] == '-') {
        switch(argv[1][1]) {
        [...]
        case 's':
            sflag = 1;
            break;
        default:
            usage();
        }
        argc--; argv++;
    }
    nfiles = argc - 1;
Declare structures together with a typedef (Win32).
typedef struct _OVERLAPPED {
    DWORD   Internal;
    DWORD   InternalHigh;
    DWORD   Offset;
    DWORD   OffsetHigh;
    HANDLE  hEvent;
} OVERLAPPED, *LPOVERLAPPED;
Assume 32-bit (nowadays 64-bit) address space and virtual memory (GNU)
Use STL containers (modern C++ software)