Code Style

Code Style

Style R code according to the conventions outlined in the tidyverse style guide. Google's R style guide is based in this. While you are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the tidyverse guide, here are some highlights:

Filenames

Give your files meaningful names and avoid special characters. Use a consistent naming convention:

• snake_case:
  • Words are separated by underscores (_).
  • Letters are lowercase.
  • Example: 1_your_code_name.R.
• kebab-case:
  • Words are separated by hyphens (-).
  • Letters are lowercase.
  • Example: 1-your-code-name.R.
• camelCase:
  • The first word is lowercase, and subsequent words start with a capital letter.
  • No spaces or special characters between words.
  • Example: 1YourCodeName.R.

Prefix files with numbers to show the order that files should be run:

00_process_response_data.R
01_process_predictor_data.R
...
09_generalized_linear_mixed_models.R
10_visualize_results.R

Object names

Object names within the code should be concise, descriptive, and follow a consistent naming convention:

bird_data <- read.csv("bird_species_data.csv")
pred_var <- read.csv("predictor_variables.csv")

Code Syntax

• Add spaces after commas
• Place a space after () in functions.
• {{ }} should have inner spaces
• Surround operators (==, +, -, <-, etc.) with spaces.
• For curly brackets {}, end lines with { and start lines with }
• Use <- to assign object names.
• Limit the line width of your code to 80 characters for readability. This will ensure that the code can be printed or displayed without cropping.
• Comment your code to explain its purpose, inputs, outputs, and rationale. Comments should begin with # followed by a space.

Auto-styling

R code can be automatically formatted according to the tidyverse style guide using the styler R package:

library(styler)
styler::style_file("file/path/file.R", style = tidyverse_style)

See the styler documentation for instructions on how to integrate styler into the RStudio GUI.