✅ Fast compile times
✅ Bloat free
✅ Simple and readable code
✅ Easy to integrate
⛔️ No C++ Standard Library / Exceptions / RTTI
⛔️ No third party build dependencies (prefer OS API)

📖 Readability

• Common:
  • Do not use obscure C++ constructs
  • Do not break code completion engines (interactive API discovery by typing . on an object)
  • Simple readable code is preferred for a first implementation (iterate to achieve Correctness and Optimization)
  • New code should be "looking similar" to existing code
• Naming:
  • Name things properly
  • Rename classes / methods / parameters until they match what they actually represent or do
  • Long classes, variables, methods, parameters names are fine
  • Renaming a class or method later after realizing there is a better name is fine
  • Avoid generic words in class names like Manager, Context, Factory, Handler, Helper, Utility etc. that do not explain anything
• Classes:
  • Avoid operator overloading (only exception can be math classes eventually)
  • Avoid automatic conversions to bool
  • Avoid creating constructors taking bool
• Pointers / References:
  • Pointer parameters are always optional
  • Pointer parameters must always be assumed to be possibly nullptr when accessing it
  • References should be used when parameter is not optional

✅ Correctness

• Make sure that memory ownership is clear and explicit
• Focus on all error conditions cases when writing error handling code
• Debug builds should run with sanitizers on by default (ASAN, UBSAN all the time and TSAN when needed)
• Compiler warnings are errors
• Compile with maximum warnings level
• Silence warnings only when it's not reasonable or possible avoiding them
• Code should always work correctly on recent GCC, Clang and MSVC compilers
• Code should always work on x86, x86_64, ARM64 and Wasm
• No code should be added without a test
• Code coverage is expected to be >= 90%
• Minimize Undefined Behavior (within limits dictated by other principles)
• If a method can fail, place it in a "create / init / assign" method instead of the constructor

🚀 Speed

• Do not use non zero-cost abstractions (exceptions or RTTI)
• Do not allocate many tiny objects with their own lifetime (and probably unclear or shared ownership)
• Optimization includes fast Debug builds
• Optimization includes fast compile times
• Optimization should not compromise correctness and readability
• Do not use system headers (coming with the compiler or OS SDK) in public facing headers to keep compile times fast
• Do not put code in headers if it's possible putting it in a .cpp file
• Do not use templates for premature optimization, causing unnecessary code to be put in headers
• Prefer static dispatch to virtual dispatch where technically possible
• Prefer using Span<T> and StringView to Vector<T> and String
• API should not allocate on the heap if possible
• API should give control over allocations to the caller where dynamic allocation is necessary