added a paragraph on coding style

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 44f2393a2c1580e0dd8c684092369084e153430f..5effa26eb174e718278d6fc2662e3b9c69b16874 100644 (file)
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -399,7 +399,105 @@ disclosure of security bugs. In those cases, please go through the process
 outlined on that page and do not file a public issue.
 
 ## Coding Style
+It's a pretty long topic, which is difficult to summarize in a single paragraph.
+As a rule of thumbs, try to imitate the coding style of
+similar lines of codes around your contribution.
+The following is a non-exhaustive list of rules employed in zstd code base:
+
+### C90
+This code base is following strict C90 standard,
+with 2 extensions : 64-bit `long long` types, and variadic macros.
+This rule is applied strictly to code within `lib/` and `programs/`.
+Sub-project in `contrib/` are allowed to use other conventions.
+
+### C++ direct compatibility : symbol mangling
+All public symbol declarations must be wrapped in `extern “C” { … }`,
+so that this project can be compiled as C++98 code,
+and linked into C++ applications.
+
+### Minimal Frugal
+This design requirement is fundamental to preserve the portability of the code base.
+#### Dependencies
+- Reduce dependencies to the minimum possible level.
+  Any dependency should be considered “bad” by default,
+  and only tolerated because it provides a service in a better way than can be achieved locally.
+  The only external dependencies this repository tolerates are
+  standard C libraries, and in rare cases, system level headers.
+- Within `lib/`, this policy is even more drastic.
+  The only external dependencies allowed are `<assert.h>`, `<stdlib.h>`, `<string.h>`,
+  and even then, not directly.
+  In particular, no function shall ever allocate on heap directly,
+  and must use instead `ZSTD_malloc()` and equivalent.
+  Other accepted non-symbol headers are `<stddef.h>` and `<limits.h>`.
+- Within the project, there is a strict hierarchy of dependencies that must be respected.
+  `programs/` is allowed to depend on `lib/`, but only its public API.
+  Within `lib/`, `lib/common` doesn't depend on any other directory.
+  `lib/compress` and `lib/decompress` shall not depend on each other.
+  `lib/dictBuilder` can depend on `lib/common` and `lib/compress`, but not `lib/decompress`.
+#### Resources
+- Functions in `lib/` must use very little stack space,
+  several dozens of bytes max.
+  Everything larger must use the heap allocator,
+  or require a scratch buffer to be emplaced manually.
+
+### Naming
+* All public symbols are prefixed with `ZSTD_`
+  + private symbols, with a scope limited to their own unit, are free of this restriction.
+    However, since `libzstd` source code can be amalgamated,
+    each symbol name must attempt to be (and remain) unique.
+    Avoid too generic names that could become ground for future collisions.
+    This generally implies usage of some form of prefix.
+* For symbols (functions and variables), naming convention is `PREFIX_camelCase`.
+  + In some advanced cases, one can also find :
+    - `PREFIX_prefix2_camelCase`
+    - `PREFIX_camelCase_extendedQualifier`
+* Multi-words names generally consist of an action followed by object:
+  - for example : `ZSTD_createCCtx()`
+* Prefer positive actions
+  - `goBackward` rather than `notGoForward`
+* Type names (`struct`, etc.) follow similar convention,
+  except that they are allowed and even invited to start by an Uppercase letter.
+  Example : `ZSTD_CCtx`, `ZSTD_CDict`
+* Macro names are all Capital letters.
+  The same composition rules (`PREFIX_NAME_QUALIFIER`) apply.
+* File names are all lowercase letters.
+  The convention is `snake_case`.
+  File names **must** be unique across the entire code base,
+  even when they stand in clearly separated directories.
+
+### Qualifiers
+* This code base is `const` friendly, if not `const` fanatical.
+  Any variable that can be `const` (aka. read-only) **must** be `const`.
+  Any pointer which content will not be modified must be `const`.
+  This property is then controlled at compiler level.
+  `const` variables are an important signal to readers that this variable isn’t modified.
+  Conversely, non-const variables are a signal to readers to watch out for modifications later on in the function.
+* If a function must be inlined, mention it explicitly,
+  using project's own portable macros, such as `FORCE_INLINE_ATTR`,
+  defined in `lib/common/compiler.h`.
+
+### Debugging
+* **Assertions** are welcome, and should be used very liberally,
+  to control any condition the code expects for its correct execution.
+  These assertion checks will be run in debug builds, and disabled in production.
+* For traces, this project provides its own debug macros,
+  in particular `DEBUGLOG(level, ...)`, defined in `lib/common/debug.h`.
+
+### Code documentation
+* Avoid code documentation that merely repeats what the code is already stating.
+  Whenever applicable, prefer employing the code as the primary way to convey explanations.
+  Example 1 : `int nbTokens = n;` instead of `int i = n; /* i is a nb of tokens *./`.
+  Example 2 : `assert(size > 0);` instead of `/* here, size should be positive */`.
+* At declaration level, the documentation explains how to use the function or variable
+  and when applicable why it's needed, of the scenarios where it can be useful.
+* At implementation level, the documentation explains the general outline of the algorithm employed,
+  and when applicable why this specific choice was preferred.
+
+### General layout
 * 4 spaces for indentation rather than tabs
+* Code documentation shall directly precede function declaration or implementation
+* Function implementations and its code documentation should be preceded and followed by an empty line
+
 
 ## License
 By contributing to Zstandard, you agree that your contributions will be licensed