cpp_code_conventions.md

C/C++ Code Conventions

These conventions apply to all C and C++ code across Compute Flow, including public APIs, core implementation, runners, bindings, bricks, command-line tools, tests, and examples.

Naming

• Classes and structs use PascalCase, for example Qwen3TTS.
• Functions use snake_case.
• Variables use lower snake_case with no capital letters, for example qwen_tts_.
• Counting variables use num_<name> instead of n_<name>.
• Constants use the k_ prefix and should be constexpr whenever possible.
• Private class members use a leading underscore: _<name>.

Types

• Use fixed-width integer types from cstdint to make intent explicit.
• Examples: int32_t, int64_t.
• Do not qualify fixed-width integer types with std::; use uint32_t instead of std::uint32_t.
• Use int32_t instead of int.
• Prefer int64_t or uint64_t instead of size_t whenever possible.
• Use float instead of float32.
• Do not use float16 to keep compatibility across supported operating systems.

Const And Immutability

• If a variable is declared and never changed, declare it const.
• Prefer constexpr for compile-time constants.
• At interfaces, primitive parameters should not be const. Pass them by value.
• Pass classes or structs by reference, and use const references for inputs.

Functions And Namespaces

• File-local static functions should live in an anonymous namespace.
• Keep variable definitions close to their first use.
• Add an empty line after a completed group of variable definitions before subsequent checks, function calls, or control flow.
• Add an empty line before and after a standalone function call. Calls that form one logical block may remain together.

Control Flow

• Always use braces for control-flow bodies, even when the body contains only one statement.

Casting

• Use static_cast for basic primitive conversions instead of C-style casts.

Includes

• Include only the headers you need.

Examples

namespace {
int32_t count_tokens(const std::vector<int32_t>& token_ids) {
  const int32_t num_tokens = static_cast<int32_t>(token_ids.size());
  return num_tokens;
}
}  // namespace

class MyClass {
 public:
  explicit MyClass(const Config& config);

 private:
  static constexpr int32_t k_max_tokens = 8192;
  int32_t _num_speakers = 0;
};