Switching to markdown documentation. Add coding standard.

docs/ThrowTheSwitchCodingStandard.md

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+# ThrowTheSwitch.org Coding Standard
+
+Hi. Welcome to the coding standard for ThrowTheSwitch.org. For the most part,
+we try to follow these standards to unify our contributors' code into a cohesive
+unit (puns intended). You might find places where these standards aren't
+followed. We're not perfect. Please be polite where you notice these discrepancies
+and we'll try to be polite when we notice yours.
+
+;)
+
+
+## Why Have A Coding Standard?
+
+Being consistent makes code easier to understand. We've made an attempt to keep
+our standard simple because we also believe that we can only expect someone to
+follow something that is understandable. Please do your best.
+
+
+## Our Philosophy
+
+Before we get into details on syntax, let's take a moment to talk about our
+vision for these tools. We're C developers and embedded software developers.
+These tools are great to test any C code, but catering to embedded software has
+made us more tolerant of compiler quirks. There are a LOT of quirky compilers
+out there. By quirky I mean "doesn't follow standards because they feel like
+they have a license to do as they wish."
+
+Our philosophy is "support every compiler we can". Most often, this means that
+we aim for writing C code that is standards compliant (often C89... that seems
+to be a sweet spot that is almost always compatible). But it also means these
+tools are tolerant of things that aren't common. Some that aren't even
+compliant. There are configuration options to override the size of standard
+types. There are configuration options to force Unity to not use certain
+standard library functions. A lot of Unity is configurable and we have worked
+hard to make it not TOO ugly in the process.
+
+Similarly, our tools that parse C do their best. They aren't full C parsers
+(yet) and, even if they were, they would still have to accept non-standard
+additions like gcc extensions or specifying `@0x1000` to force a variable to
+compile to a particular location. It's just what we do, because we like
+everything to Just Work™.
+
+Speaking of having things Just Work™, that's our second philosophy. By that, we
+mean that we do our best to have EVERY configuration option have a logical
+default. We believe that if you're working with a simple compiler and target,
+you shouldn't need to configure very much... we try to make the tools guess as
+much as they can, but give the user the power to override it when it's wrong.
+
+
+## Naming Things
+
+Let's talk about naming things. Programming is all about naming things. We name
+files, functions, variables, and so much more. While we're not always going to
+find the best name for something, we actually put quite a bit of effort into
+finding *What Something WANTS to be Called*™.
+
+When naming things, we more or less follow this hierarchy, the first being the
+most important to us (but we do all four whenever possible):
+1. Readable
+2. Descriptive
+3. Consistent
+4. Memorable
+
+
+#### Readable
+
+We want to read our code. This means we like names and flow that are more
+naturally read. We try to avoid double negatives. We try to avoid cryptic
+abbreviations (sticking to ones we feel are common).
+
+
+#### Descriptive
+
+We like descriptive names for things, especially functions and variables.
+Finding the right name for something is an important endeavor. You might notice
+from poking around our code that this often results in names that are a little
+longer than the average. Guilty. We're okay with a tiny bit more typing if it
+means our code is easier to understand.
+
+There are two exceptions to this rule that we also stick to as religiously as
+possible:
+
+First, while we realize hungarian notation (and similar systems for encoding
+type information into variable names) is providing a more descriptive name, we
+feel that (for the average developer) it takes away from readability and
+therefore is to be avoided.
+
+Second, loop counters and other local throw-away variables often have a purpose
+which is obvious. There's no need, therefore, to get carried away with complex
+naming. We find i, j, and k are better loop counters than loopCounterVar or
+whatnot. We only break this rule when we see that more description could improve
+understanding of an algorithm.
+
+
+#### Consistent
+
+We like consistency, but we're not really obsessed with it. We try to name our
+configuration macros in a consistent fashion... you'll notice a repeated use of
+UNITY_EXCLUDE_BLAH or UNITY_USES_BLAH macros. This helps users avoid having to
+remember each macro's details.
+
+
+#### Memorable
+
+Where ever it doesn't violate the above principles, we try to apply memorable
+names. Sometimes this means using something that is simply descriptive, but
+often we strive for descriptive AND unique... we like quirky names that stand
+out in our memory and are easier to search for. Take a look through the file
+names in Ceedling and you'll get a good idea of what we are talking about here.
+Why use preprocess when you can use preprocessinator? Or what better describes a
+module in charge of invoking tasks during releases than release_invoker? Don't
+get carried away. The names are still descriptive and fulfill the above
+requirements, but they don't feel stale.
+
+
+## C and C++ Details
+
+We don't really want to add to the style battles out there. Tabs or spaces?
+How many spaces? Where do the braces go? These are age-old questions that will
+never be answered... or at least not answered in a way that will make everyone
+happy.
+
+We've decided on our own style preferences. If you'd like to contribute to these
+projects (and we hope that you do), then we ask if you do your best to follow
+the same. It will only hurt a little. We promise.
+
+
+#### Whitespace
+
+Our C-style is to use spaces and to use 4 of them per indent level. It's a nice
+power-of-2 number that looks decent on a wide screen. We have no more reason
+than that. We break that rule when we have lines that wrap (macros or function
+arguments or whatnot). When that happens, we like to indent further to line
+things up in nice tidy columns.
+
+```C
+    if (stuff_happened)
+    {
+        do_something();
+    }
+```
+
+
+#### Case
+
+- Files - all lower case with underscores.
+- Variables - all lower case with underscores
+- Macros - all caps with underscores.
+- Typedefs - all caps with underscores. (also ends with _T).
+- Functions - camel cased. Usually named ModuleName_FuncName
+- Constants and Globals - camel cased.
+
+
+#### Braces
+
+The left brace is on the next line after the declaration. The right brace is
+directly below that. Everything in between in indented one level. If you're
+catching an error and you have a one-line, go ahead and to it on the same line.
+
+```C
+    while (blah)
+    {
+        //Like so. Even if only one line, we use braces.
+    }
+```
+
+
+#### Comments
+
+Do you know what we hate? Old-school C block comments. BUT, we're using them
+anyway. As we mentioned, our goal is to support every compiler we can,
+especially embedded compilers. There are STILL C compilers out there that only
+support old-school block comments. So that is what we're using. We apologize. We
+think they are ugly too.
+
+
+## Ruby Details
+
+Is there really such thing as a Ruby coding standard? Ruby is such a free form
+language, it seems almost sacrilegious to suggest that people should comply to
+one method! We'll keep it really brief!
+
+
+#### Whitespace
+
+Our Ruby style is to use spaces and to use 2 of them per indent level. It's a
+nice power-of-2 number that really grooves with Ruby's compact style. We have no
+more reason than that. We break that rule when we have lines that wrap. When
+that happens, we like to indent further to line things up in nice tidy columns.
+
+
+#### Case
+
+- Files - all lower case with underscores.
+- Variables - all lower case with underscores
+- Classes, Modules, etc - Camel cased.
+- Functions - all lower case with underscores
+- Constants - all upper case with underscores
+
+
+## Documentation
+
+Egad. Really? We use markdown and we like pdf files because they can be made to
+look nice while still being portable. Good enough?
+
+
+*Find The Latest of This And More at [ThrowTheSwitch.org](https://throwtheswitch.org)*