Programming Style Guide

In general, refer to the Python Style Guide for reference.

Particular items to keep in mind:

• Code organization:
  • The rmgpy package contains all of the functionality of RMG
  • Unit tests associated with a particular module should be located in moduleTest.py
  • Place all custom exceptions in rmgpy/exceptions.py
• Naming conventions:
  • RMG now officially follows PEP 8 naming conventions
  • New code should comply with these guidelines, and old code can be converted as convenient
  • module names are in lowercase, and preferably one word long
  • Class and Exception names start with capital letters (e.g., CamelCase)
  • functions and methods are lower case with underscores (e.g., lowercase_with_underscores)
  • instances and variables are lower case with underscores (e.g., lowercase_with_underscores)
  • constants are upper case with underscores (e.g., CAPS_WITH_UNDERSCORES)
• Spacing:
  • Indents with 4 spaces rather than tabs
  • See whitespace guidelines for when to include spaces
• Imports:
  • Avoid wildcard imports (e.g., from rmg.molecule import *)
  • Absolute imports are preferred over relative imports (e.g., from rmgpy.molecule.resonance import generateResonanceStructures instead of from .resonance import generateResonanceStructures)
  • Remove unnecessary imports
• Exceptions:
  • Provide a helpful message when raising an exception
  • When catching an exception, use the most specific exception class that is reasonable
• Logging:
  • Use the logging module to print messages; never use print statements
  • Use appropriate logging levels for messages