I first thought that coding standards in computer science were comparable to grammar in all of the spoken languages that exist in the world. However, upon further thought I’ve decided that the grammar of programming languages is built into the language itself. What I mean by this is that if you do not structure your code properly in a certain language, then the program most likely will not run. Similarly, if you do not structure your sentences correctly in the English language, then your message will most likely not make any sense. This then begs the question, “what is the point of coding standards?”
Coding standards, as the name implies, are rules that attempt to standardize the way that computer scientists style the writing of their code in various programs. For example, coding standards dictate how we should handle spacing, indentations, and naming in our programs. While this may seem tedious in assignments and projects, I feel that coding standards are important due to the “loose” nature of actually typing out code.
At the surface, coding standards keep our code consistent and easy to read. However, the bigger implications of coding standards is that they in a way form the basis for teamwork in computer science. The purpose of cleaning up our code is so that computer scientists can easily decipher the thoughts of one another. If all of the members of a group working on a project follow the same standards for the style of their code, group work becomes much more efficient and members will be more in sync with each other. If you are some superstar, lone-wolf programmer, then I suppose you do not necessarily need coding standards because you will be the only one working on your projects. However, I think that learning to cooperate will only grow more important in the future as many computer science careers in the industry are team oriented.