style50.md

style50

style50 is a command-line tool with which you can check your code for consistency with CS50's style guide (for C). If your code isn't styled consistently, style50 will summarize the changes you should make to your code, as by highlighting in green characters you should add and highlighting in red characters you should delete.

For instance, consider the code below, wherein the call to printf isn't properly indented.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
printf("hello, world\n");
}

Given that code as input, style50 will output

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    printf("hello, world\n");
}

wherein highlighted are four spaces that should be added for style's sake.

On the other hand, consider the code below, wherein the curly braces are unnecessarily indented.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
    {
    printf("hello, world\n");
    }

Given that code as input, style50 will output

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
    {
    printf("hello, world\n");
    }

wherein highlighted are four spaces that should be deleted for style's sake.

Usage

To check your code's style, execute

style50 file

where file is the (path to some) file whose style you'd like to check.

Modes

By default, style50 operates in character mode, but you can specify other modes with -o or --output.

Consider the (poorly styled) file below, hello.c, for a look at these modes.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
    {
printf("hello, world\n");
    }

character

In character mode, style50 compares its input against CS50's style guide character by character. Were you to run

style50 --output character hello.c

or just

style50 -o character hello.c

or even just

style50 hello.c

you would see the below.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{\n
    {\n
    printf("hello, world\n");
    }

split

In split mode, style50 displays its input and output side by side. Were you to run

style50 --output split hello.c

or just

style50 -o split hello.c

you would see the below.

#include <stdio.h>               #include <stdio.h>

int main(void)                   int main(void)
    {                            {
printf("hello, world\n");            printf("hello, world\n");
    }                            }

unified

In unified mode, style50 displays its output line by line, akin to git-diff. Were you to run

style50 --output unified hello.c

or just

style50 -o unified hello.c

you would see the below.

  #include <stdio.h>

  int main(void)
-     {
+ {
- printf("hello, world\n");
+     printf("hello, world\n");
-     }
+ }

Installation

style50 is already installed for you in CS50 IDE, so no need to install it yourself; simply use it as directed!

If you'd like to install style50 on your own Mac or PC, so that you can check your code's style without using CS50 IDE, you'll need a command-line environment:

• If running Linux or the like, you already have one! Open a terminal window in your usual way.
• If running Mac OS, you already have one! Open Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
• If running Windows, you'll need to install the Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is only supported on Windows 10. Once installed, run bash.

To install style50 within that command-line environment:

1. Install Python 2.7 or higher, if not already installed.

2. Install pip, as via

   sudo easy_install pip
   

   if not already installed.

3. Execute

   sudo pip3 install style50
   

   to install style50 itself.

4. Install Artistic Style 3.0. If running a Debian-based operating system (e.g., Ubuntu Linux), simply run

   apt-get update
   apt-get install astyle
   

   to install CS50's own compiled version of astyle.

Upgrading

Execute

sudo pip install --upgrade style50

to upgrade style50, once installed.

Source Code

https://github.com/cs50/style50