Style Guide

The authoritative style sources are:

• docs/CODE_STANDARDS.md
• docs/SAFETY_RULESET.md
• docs/LIBC_POLICY.md

This page is a practical checklist for day-to-day edits.

Code Structure Rules

• each .c/.h file starts with a top-of-file "what/why" comment
• functions should stay focused and usually under 50 lines
• avoid magic numbers; extract named constants
• prefer explicit section markers in long functions

Safety and Contract Rules

• treat external bytes as untrusted
• validate bounds before pointer derivation
• keep 0 = OK, negative errors contract consistent
• avoid partial effects on validation failure paths

Platform Boundary Rules

• no OS headers in src/core, src/unicode, src/util
• OS behavior belongs in src/platform/posix and src/platform/win32

Documentation Rules

• update docs when ABI/format behavior changes
• keep version pins synchronized across headers/docs/changelog
• ensure wrapper-facing docs and internal specs do not drift

Review Checklist

• build + relevant tests pass
• guardrails pass
• docs and version pins updated when needed
• comments explain intent/constraints, not obvious operations

Related Docs

• Code standards
• Header layering
• Maintainers docs checklist