Oct 25 2008
Seven Requirements for Printing Code for Review
A programmer who uses the wrong print format when circulating code for review is like Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: just plain annoying. The right format is pretty simple, yet your correspondent frequently encounters programmers who don’t prepare the code in the right way.
Here are the dead-simple requirements for preparing code for circulation:
- Make it a PDF
- Make the page orientation landscape*
- Include line numbers!
- Color the code
- Include the filename at the top of each page
- Include page numbers at the bottom of each page
- The file name of the PDF should be the filename of the code
If you are a programmer and you don’t follow these guidelines then all you are doing is putting your reviewer in a foul mood. Not the best way to start a review.
* After all, code tends to be wider than it is longer