ruby_code_conventions.rb

# 1.  Use two spaces instead of tabs

# 2.  Avoid using 'return' when not necessary. It's unnecessary.

# before
def current_user
  return session[:user]
end
# after
def current_user
  session[:user]
end

# 3.  Review code before pushing commits, first git pull, then review with: git diff hash_id..hash_id, or git diff origin/master..master

# 4.  Create a topic branch (branch with descriptive name) instead of committing broken or (exposed) incomplete code.
#       If you have code you would like to checkpoint, you can commit into a feature branch.

# 5.  Avoid committing files with whitespace only changes, call git checkout path/to/file to reset changes you've made.

# 6.  Don't use shortened variable names (e.g. while iterating surveys, each iterator should be a survey rather than an svy)
#       more examples: performance_measures_table vs pm_table, project_survey_score vs pss.
#       Variable naming should be verbose, not brief. 
#       Longer variable names are much easier to recognize, and your code will be read much more than written / extended.
#       Avoid specifying variable type in names unless absolutely required by some wierd edge case.

# 7.  Use do |var|; end blocks rather than mustache blocks {|var| } for multi-line implementations. This is ruby convention. 
#       We want a consistent style which makes it easy to change gears between different libraries, etc.

# before
items.each do |item|
  
end

# after
items.each {|item| }

# 8.  Refrain from over-casting vars, e.g. some_var.to_i == some_var.to_i

# 9.  Attempt to use regexes rather equality matches for multiple possible values, 
#       e.g. value == 'string' vs. value[/string/] or value =~ /string/ (because it's easy to exand the regex version).
#       This helps when several items later need to be compared.

value = 'radio'

# before
value == 'radio' | value == 'text'

# after
value[/radio|text/]
# or
value =~ /radio|text/

# 10. Instead of naming methods with get_/set_, use method_accessor for getters and method_accessor= for setters

# before
def get_survey_scores; end
def set_survey_scores(value); end

# after
def survey_scores; end
def survey_scores=(value); end

# 11. Be aware, code which follows repetitive patterns is a code smell. Refactor!

# 12. Try to comment code for what it does, not what it is (not always possible, but consider it).

# before

question_ids = [1,2,3,4]

# user questions
show question_ids

# after
question_ids = [1,2,3,4]

# show baseline_survey questions
show question_ids

# this can still be improved (format can be described, etc.)


# 13. Learn from other large, successful projects like: rails, rack, etc. Don't be afraid to dig into source code.