clice C++ Coding Style

Redundancy Is a Defect

This is the convention we care most about. Redundant code is not a style nit — it actively misleads: every guard implies the guarded state can occur, every branch implies it can be taken, every parameter implies a caller needs it. When that implication is false, the reader wastes time defending against ghosts.

• Every branch must be reachable. Before adding a guard or fallback, prove the state can actually occur — construct the input that hits it. If you can't, don't write it.
• No speculative generality. No parameters, options, hooks, or abstraction layers for hypothetical future callers. Add them when the second real caller arrives.
• One way to do each thing. Don't leave an old path alive next to its replacement "just in case" — migrate all callers and delete it in the same change.
• Re-read after every change. Edits leave residue: conditions that became constant, variables read once, branches that now collapse, else after return, a helper with one remaining caller. Fold them before you're done — simplification that removes a concept beats one that merely shortens lines.
• Delete, don't comment out. Git history is the archive.

Files & Organization

• Headers are .h with #pragma once — never include guards.
• Sources are .cpp; entry points are .cc (clice.cc, src/driver/*.cc) — a deliberate distinction, revisit when the project moves to C++20 modules.
• File names are snake_case.
• File-local helpers: a single one is static; a cluster of them goes in one anonymous namespace.

Data & Types

• struct by default, even for types with methods. class only when there is a real invariant that private access protects.
• enum class with an explicit underlying type (e.g. : std::uint8_t); document each enumerator with /// when its meaning is not obvious.
• Prefer designated initializers ({.field = value}) for aggregate construction.
• West const: const T&, never T const&.

Errors, Exceptions & Defense

• The project builds with -fno-exceptions -fno-rtti: no throw/try/catch, no dynamic_cast/typeid. Polymorphic inspection uses llvm::isa<> / cast<> / dyn_cast<>.
• Fallible synchronous operations return std::expected<T, E> with E = std::string or std::error_code; async code uses kota's outcome types. llvm::Error only where an LLVM API forces it.
• assert pins preconditions; impossible branches end in std::unreachable() — never llvm_unreachable (project convention).
• Invalid external input (broken source code, malformed requests) degrades gracefully — empty result, input passed through — it never crashes the server. But graceful degradation is not scattered null checks: per the redundancy rule, defend only against states that can occur. The Debug (ASan + assertions) test surface is the safety net.

Error Handling (control flow)

• Prefer if with init-statements to tightly scope error variables, but avoid them when they compromise code readability or flatten control flow.
• Omit redundant conditions: If the error type provides an operator bool or evaluates implicitly (e.g., standard error codes, custom error wrappers), omit the redundant condition check.
• Avoid forced else branches: If scoping the variable inside the if requires you to introduce an else block for the success path (especially when returning early on error), declare the variable in the local scope instead to keep the control flow flat.

// Good: Omit redundant condition when the type has operator bool
if (auto err = foo()) {
    /* handle error */
}

// Bad: Redundant condition check
if (auto err = foo(); err) {
    /* handle error */
}

// Good: Use init-statement when a custom condition is required,
// AND the variable isn't needed outside the if-statement
if (auto result = foo(); !result.has_value()) {
    /* handle error */
}

// --- Scope and Control Flow Considerations ---

// Bad: Using init-statement forces an 'else' block because 'result'
// goes out of scope, leading to nested/redundant code.
if (auto result = get_data(); !result.has_value()) {
    return result.error();
} else {
    process(result.value()); // Success path is forced into a nested block
}

// Good: Declare as a regular local variable to allow early exit
// and keep the success path un-nested (flat control flow).
auto result = get_data();
if (!result.has_value()) {
    return result.error();
}
process(result.value());

Concurrency & Async

• Async code is kota coroutines (kota::task, co_await) — no callback style. A public interface may stay synchronous and drive a coroutine internally when the caller has no event loop (see Toolchain).

Logging

• Log through the LOG_TRACE / LOG_DEBUG / LOG_INFO / LOG_WARN / LOG_ERR macros (std::format syntax, source location captured automatically); logging::critical logs and aborts. Never call spdlog directly, never print diagnostics to stdout/stderr.

Naming Conventions

• Variables, member fields, function names: snake_case. Class member fields do NOT use any special suffix/prefix (no trailing _, no m_ prefix).
• Class names, template parameter names, enum names: PascalCase. Exception: some class names also use snake_case — follow the existing style in the project.
• Enum values: PascalCase.
• Doc comments on declarations use ///; the bar for when to write a comment at all is in CLAUDE.md.

Template & Type Traits

• Do NOT blindly add std::remove_cvref_t on every template parameter. Understand C++ template argument deduction rules:
  • template<typename T> void f(T x) — T is always deduced as a non-reference, non-cv-qualified type. No need for remove_cvref_t.
  • template<typename T> void f(T& x) — T is deduced as the referred-to type (possibly cv-qualified, but never a reference). No need for remove_cvref_t to strip references.
  • template<typename T> void f(const T& x) — T is deduced as a non-const, non-reference type. No need for remove_cvref_t.
  • template<typename T> void f(T&& x) — forwarding reference: T CAN be deduced as an lvalue reference (e.g., int&). This is the ONLY case where std::remove_cvref_t<T> is needed to get the bare type.
  • Class template parameters and return types are also never deduced as references; don't add remove_cvref_t on them either.

Type Traits & Concepts (C++20/23)

• This project targets C++20/23. Use variable templates directly for type traits — do NOT use the old pattern of wrapping a class template static member in a variable template. Prefer:

  // Good: directly specialize a variable template
  template<typename T>
  inline constexpr bool is_my_type_v = false;
  
  template<>
  inline constexpr bool is_my_type_v<MyType> = true;
  

  // Bad: unnecessary class template wrapper
  template<typename T>
  struct is_my_type : std::false_type {};
  
  template<>
  struct is_my_type<MyType> : std::true_type {};
  
  template<typename T>
  inline constexpr bool is_my_type_v = is_my_type<T>::value;
  

• When defining a concept that checks a type trait, do NOT add std::remove_cvref_t unless you specifically intend the concept to see through references/cv-qualifiers. If the concept is meant for a bare type, just use T directly — the caller is responsible for passing the right type.

  // Good
  template<typename T>
  concept MyTrait = is_my_type_v<T>;
  
  // Bad: unnecessary remove_cvref_t
  template<typename T>
  concept MyTrait = is_my_type_v<std::remove_cvref_t<T>>;
  

String Literals

• Prefer C++11 raw string literals R"(...)" over escaped strings. Avoid \", \\, \n in string literals when a raw literal is cleaner.

Style

• Prefer [[maybe_unused]] over (void) for intentionally unused variables or parameters.

Modern C++ Usage

• Use C++20/23 APIs whenever possible. Do NOT use <iostream> facilities (std::cout, std::cin, std::cerr, etc.). Also do NOT use C-style I/O (printf, fprintf, etc.).
• Prefer std::ranges / std::views APIs over raw loops and traditional <algorithm> calls.
• Prefer LLVM's efficient data structures (e.g., llvm::SmallVector, llvm::DenseMap, llvm::StringMap, llvm::StringRef) over their std counterparts when appropriate.

Parameter Passing Preferences

• For string parameters, prefer llvm::StringRef > std::string_view > const std::string&.
• For array/span parameters, prefer llvm::ArrayRef > std::span > const std::vector&.