Coding standards are a set of guidelines and best practices that dictate how code should be written, formatted, and organized within a software development team or organization. They help ensure consistency, maintainability, and readability across the codebase, reducing the cognitive load on developers who have to read and understand each other's code, but let's be real, they're about as exciting as watching paint dry.

How to use it in a sentence

• "I can't believe I have to spend my Friday night updating this legacy codebase to conform to our new coding standards," grumbled the disgruntled developer, longing for the days when they could just write code without worrying about curly brace placement.

• The tech lead, in an attempt to sound important, declared, "From now on, all code must adhere to our coding standards, which I spent all weekend copy-pasting from Google's style guide."

If you actually want to learn more...

• The Basics of Web Application Security: While not directly related to coding standards, this article emphasizes the importance of incorporating security best practices into your development process. Read more

• Code Smell: This article introduces the concept of "code smells," which are indicators of potential problems in your codebase. Adhering to coding standards can help minimize code smells. Read more

• Beck Design Rules: Kent Beck's four rules of simple design, developed during the late 1990s, provide guidance on achieving simplicity and clarity in your code, which can be reinforced through coding standards. Read more

Note: the Developer Dictionary is in Beta. Please direct feedback to skye@statsig.com.