Coding Standards

Python

Testing

All tests should pass, and 100% line and branch test coverage should be maintained, at every commit (on the master branch or a release branch; temporary failing tests or lack of coverage on a feature branch is acceptable, but the branch should meet these standards before it is merged.)

To check coverage, run bin/test and load htmlcov/index.html in your browser.

Test methods should set up preconditions for a single action, take that action, and check the results of that single action (generally, separate these three blocks in the test method with blank lines). Multiple asserts in a single test method are acceptable only if they are checking multiple aspects of the result of a single action (even in that case, multiple test methods may be better unless the aspects are closely related). Avoid multi-step tests; they should be broken into separate tests.

Avoid importing the code under test at module level in the test file; instead, import it in helper methods that are called by the tests that use it. This ensures that even broken imports cause only the affected tests to fail, rather than the entire test module.

Prefer helper methods to TestCase.setUp for anything beyond the most basic setup (e.g. creating a user for authenticated-view tests); this keeps the setup more explicit in the test, and avoids doing unnecessary setup if not all test methods require exactly the same setup.

Never use external data fixtures for test data; use the object factories in tests.factories (available as self.F on every tests.cases.DBTestCase.) If a large amount of interconnected data is needed, write helper methods. External data fixtures introduce unnecessary dependencies between tests and are difficult to maintain.

Style

A consistent coding style helps make code easier to read and maintain. Many of these rules are a matter of preference and an alternate choice would serve equally well, but follow them anyway for the sake of consistency within this codebase.

If in doubt, follow PEP 8, Python’s own style guide.

Line length

Limit all lines to a maximum of 79 characters.

Docstrings

Follow PEP 257. Every module, class, and method should have a docstring. Every docstring should begin with a single concise summary line (that fits within the 79-character limit). If the summary line is the entire docstring, format it like this:

def get_lib_dir():
    """Return the lib directory path."""

If there are additional explanatory paragraphs, place both the opening and closing triple-quotes on their own lines. Separate paragraphs with blank lines, and add an additional blank line before the closing triple quote:

def get_lib_dir():
    """
    Return the lib directory path.

    Checks the ``LIB_DIR`` environment variable and the ``lib-dir`` config
    file option before falling back to the default.

    """

Docstrings should be formatted using reStructuredText. This means that literals should be enclosed in double backticks, and literal blocks indented and opened with a double colon.

Always use triple double-quotes for enclosing docstrings.

Imports

Outside of test code, prefer module-level imports to imports within a function or method. If the latter are necessary to avoid circular imports, consider reorganizing the dependency hierarchy of the modules involved to avoid the circular dependency.

Module-level imports should all occur at the top of the module, prior to any other code in the module. The following types of imports should appear in the following order (omitted if not present), each group of imports separated from the next by a single blank line:

  1. Python standard library imports.
  2. Django core imports.
  3. Django contrib imports.
  4. Other third-party module imports.
  5. Imports from other modules in MozTrap.

Within each group, order imports alphabetically.

For imports from within MozTrap, use explicit relative imports for imports from the same package or the parent package (i.e. where the explicit relative import path begins with one or two dots). For more distant imports, it’s usually more readable to give the full absolute path. Thus, for code in moztrap.view.manage.runs.views, you could do from .forms import AddRunForm and from ..cases.forms import AddCaseForm, but it’s probably better to do from moztrap.view.lists import decorators rather than from ....lists import decorators; more than two dots become difficult to distinguish visually.

Never use implicit relative imports; if an import does not begin with a dot, it should be a top-level module. In other words, if models.py is a sibling module, always from . import models, never just import models.

Whitespace

Use four-space indents. No tabs.

Strip all trailing whitespace. Configure your editor to show trailing whitespace, or automatically strip it on save. git diff --check will also warn about trailing whitespace.

Empty lines consisting of only whitespace are also considered “trailing whitespace”. Empty lines should not be “indented” with trailing whitespace to match surrounding code indentation.

Separate classes and module-level functions with three blank lines. Separate class methods with two blank lines. Single blank lines may be used within functions and methods to logically group lines of code.

Line continuations

Never use backslash line continuations, use Python’s implicit line continuations within brackets/braces/parentheses. If necessary, prefer extraneous grouping parentheses to a backslash continuation.

All indents should be exactly four spaces.

The first place to wrap a long line is immediately after the first opening parenthesis, brace or bracket:

foo.some_long_method_name(
    arg_one, arg_two, arg_three, keyword="arg")

my_dict = {
    "foo": "bar", "boo": "baz"}

my_list_comprehension = [
    x[0] for x in my_list_of_tuples]

If the second line is still too long, each element/argument should be placed on its own line. All lines should include a trailing comma, and the closing brace/paren should go on its own line. (This allows easy rearrangement or addition/removal of items with full-line cut/paste). For example:

foo.some_long_method_name(
    foo=foo_arg,
    bar=bar_arg,
    baz=baz_arg,
    something_else="foo",
    )

my_dict = {
    "foo": "bar",
    "boo": "baz",
    "something else": "foo",
    }

my_list_comprehension = [
    x[0] for x in my_list_of_tuples
    if x[1] is not None
    ]

One exception to the four-space indents rule is when a line continuation occurs in an if test or another block-opening clause. In this case, indent the hanging lines eight spaces to avoid visual confusion between the line continuations and the start of the code block:

if (something and
        something_else and
        something_else_again):
    do_something()

Comments

Code comments should not be used excessively; they require maintenance just as code (an out-of-date comment is often far worse than no comment at all). Comments should add information or context or rationale to the code, not simply restate what the code is doing.

The need for a comment sometimes indicates code that is overly clever or doing something unexpected. Consider whether the code should be expanded for clarity, or the API improved so the behavior is less surprising, before adding a comment.

Use @@@ in a comment to mark code that requires future attention. This marker should always appear with explanation of why more attention is needed, or what is missing from the current code.

Quotes

Always use double-quotes for quoting string literals, unless the quoted string must contain a double-quote character. Quoting such a string with single quotes is preferable to using backslash escapes in the string.

Javascript

Javascript code should pass JSLint.

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