% NGSSTYLE(1) NGS User Manual % Ilya Sher % 2018

NAME

ngsstyle - Next Generation Shell language style guide.

Empty arrays vs null

Prefer empty arrays to null. This will avoid wrapping my_arr.each(...) in if my_arr { ... }.

Bad:

F my_func() {
	# Returns null or an array
}

...
my_arr = my_func()

if my_arr {
	my_arr.each(...)
}

Good:

F my_func() {
	# Always returns an array, potentially empty
}

...

my_func.each(...)

Anonymous function that only calls another function

Bad:

my_arr.map(F(x) my_func(x))

Good:

my_arr.map(my_func)

When I see the "Bad" variant, I assume one of the following:

• The author wanted to explicitly name the elements (x). Good name for my_arr eliminates the need for naming elements.
• The author does not understand how to use the map function

Functional operators

Avoid using the "functional operators". They are confusing to the reader.

Bad:

my_list / my_func
my_list ? my_func
my_list % my_func
my_val \ my_func

Good:

my_list.map(my_func)
my_list.filter(my_func)
my_list.each(my_func)
my_func(my_val)

Method body of one short expression

Not recommended:

F is_resource_code(s:Str)
	s in RESOURCE_CODE_TO_RESOURCE_TYPE
}

Recommended:

F is_resource_code(s:Str) s in RESOURCE_CODE_TO_RESOURCE_TYPE