View source for C++ coding guidelines

= Introduction =
This note gives a set of guidelines and recommendations for coding in C++ for the SCTau experiment.

There are several reasons for maintaining and following a set of programming guidelines. First, by following some rules, one can avoid some common errors and pitfalls in C++ programming, and thus have more reliable code. But even more important: a computer program should not only tell the machine what to do, but it should also tell other people what you want the machine to do. This is obviously important any time when you have many people working on a given piece of software, and such considerations would naturally lead to code that is easy to read and understand. Think of writing SCTau code as another form of publication, and take the same care as you would writing up an analysis for colleagues.

This document is derived from the ATLAS C++ coding guidelines [ [[#AtlasCodingGuidelines|AtlasCodingGuidelines]] ]

Some additional useful information on C++ programming may be found in [ [[#Effective C++|Effective C++]] ], [ [[#Effective STL|Effective STL]] ], and [ [[#Design Patterns|Design Patterns...]] ].

This note is not intended to be a fixed set of rigid rules. Rather, it should evolve as experience warrants.