The Need for Coding Conventions

Consistently applied coding standards can improve the following in a software project:

• Productivity. Productivity, as applied here to the actual writing of code, means saving "code time" without suffering some inherent quality penalty.

• Quality. The quality of code is chiefly measured by its relative conformance to some technical specification and the ease with which it can be maintained.

• Maintainability. Maintainable code is both repairable and extensible. Additionally, and in all cases, maintainable code is easy to comprehend, which facilitates achieving speedy, accurate modification.

• Comprehensibility. Comprehensible code is both conformant (with some recognized standard) and consistent.