Formatting the Code

• Use standard libraries as much as possible
• Try avoiding the deprecated API's
• Avoid using tabs. Use spaces for indentation.
• Standard python code has 4 spaces for indentation, so use it.
• When in doubt always check with
  • http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/
  • http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0257

Tips in a Nutshell

• Use 4 spaces per indentation level.Never mix tabs and spaces.
• Maximum Line Length should be preferably set to 79 or 80 characters
• Separate top-level function and class definitions with two blank lines.
• Method definitions inside a class are separated by a single blank line.
• Extra blank lines may be used (sparingly) to separate groups of related functions.
• Code in the core Python distribution should aways use the ASCII or Latin-1 encoding (a.k.a. ISO-8859-1). For Python 3.0 and beyond, UTF-8 is preferred over Latin-1
• Imports should usually be on separate lines rather than comma separated.
• Comments that contradict the code are worse than no comments.
• Comments should be complete sentences.
• Block comments generally apply to some (or all) code that follows them, and are indented to the same level as that code.
• Use inline comments sparingly.
• Follow sections in link above for Documentation Strings, Version Bookkeeping, Naming Conventions
• Avoid extraneous whitespace in the following situations:

spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2}) 

spam( ham[ 1 ], { eggs: 2 } ) 

if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y, x 

if x == 4 : print x , y ; x , y = y , x 

spam(1)

spam (1)

dict['key'] = list[index]

dict ['key'] = list [index]

x = 1
long_variable = 3

x            = 1
long_variable = 3

i = i + 1
submitted += 1
x = x * 2 - 1
hypot2 = x * x + y * y
c = (a + b) * (a - b)

i=i+1
submitted +=1
x = x*2 - 1
hypot2 = x*x + y*y
c = (a+b) * (a-b)

def complex(real, imag=0.0):
    return magic(r=real, i=imag)

def complex(real, imag = 0.0):
    return magic(r = real, i = imag)

if foo == 'blah':
    do_blah_thing()
do_one()
do_two()
do_three()

if foo == 'blah': do_blah_thing() do_one();
do_two(); do_three()

if foo == 'blah': do_blah_thing()
else: do_non_blah_thing()
try: something()
finally: cleanup()
do_one(); do_two(); do_three(long, argument,
                            list, like, this)
if foo == 'blah': one(); two(); three()