nixpkgs/doc/coding-conventions.xml
zimbatm 064bd03b8c
doc: tweak the coding conventions (#51113)
Encouraging to put container elements on their own lines to minimize
diffs, merge conflicts and making re-ordering easier.

Nix doesn't suffer the restrictions of other languages where commas are
used to separate list items.
2018-11-27 22:14:41 +01:00

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<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
xml:id="chap-conventions">
<title>Coding conventions</title>
<section xml:id="sec-syntax">
<title>Syntax</title>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Use 2 spaces of indentation per indentation level in Nix expressions, 4
spaces in shell scripts.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Do not use tab characters, i.e. configure your editor to use soft tabs.
For instance, use <literal>(setq-default indent-tabs-mode nil)</literal>
in Emacs. Everybody has different tab settings so its asking for
trouble.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Use <literal>lowerCamelCase</literal> for variable names, not
<literal>UpperCamelCase</literal>. Note, this rule does not apply to
package attribute names, which instead follow the rules in
<xref linkend="sec-package-naming"/>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Function calls with attribute set arguments are written as
<programlisting>
foo {
arg = ...;
}
</programlisting>
not
<programlisting>
foo
{
arg = ...;
}
</programlisting>
Also fine is
<programlisting>
foo { arg = ...; }
</programlisting>
if it's a short call.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
In attribute sets or lists that span multiple lines, the attribute names
or list elements should be aligned:
<programlisting>
# A long list.
list = [
elem1
elem2
elem3
];
# A long attribute set.
attrs = {
attr1 = short_expr;
attr2 =
if true then big_expr else big_expr;
};
# Combined
listOfAttrs = [
{
attr1 = 3;
attr2 = "fff";
}
{
attr1 = 5;
attr2 = "ggg";
}
];
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Short lists or attribute sets can be written on one line:
<programlisting>
# A short list.
list = [ elem1 elem2 elem3 ];
# A short set.
attrs = { x = 1280; y = 1024; };
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Breaking in the middle of a function argument can give hard-to-read code,
like
<programlisting>
someFunction { x = 1280;
y = 1024; } otherArg
yetAnotherArg
</programlisting>
(especially if the argument is very large, spanning multiple lines).
</para>
<para>
Better:
<programlisting>
someFunction
{ x = 1280; y = 1024; }
otherArg
yetAnotherArg
</programlisting>
or
<programlisting>
let res = { x = 1280; y = 1024; };
in someFunction res otherArg yetAnotherArg
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The bodies of functions, asserts, and withs are not indented to prevent a
lot of superfluous indentation levels, i.e.
<programlisting>
{ arg1, arg2 }:
assert system == "i686-linux";
stdenv.mkDerivation { ...
</programlisting>
not
<programlisting>
{ arg1, arg2 }:
assert system == "i686-linux";
stdenv.mkDerivation { ...
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Function formal arguments are written as:
<programlisting>
{ arg1, arg2, arg3 }:
</programlisting>
but if they don't fit on one line they're written as:
<programlisting>
{ arg1, arg2, arg3
, arg4, ...
, # Some comment...
argN
}:
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Functions should list their expected arguments as precisely as possible.
That is, write
<programlisting>
{ stdenv, fetchurl, perl }: <replaceable>...</replaceable>
</programlisting>
instead of
<programlisting>
args: with args; <replaceable>...</replaceable>
</programlisting>
or
<programlisting>
{ stdenv, fetchurl, perl, ... }: <replaceable>...</replaceable>
</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
For functions that are truly generic in the number of arguments (such as
wrappers around <varname>mkDerivation</varname>) that have some required
arguments, you should write them using an <literal>@</literal>-pattern:
<programlisting>
{ stdenv, doCoverageAnalysis ? false, ... } @ args:
stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
<replaceable>...</replaceable> if doCoverageAnalysis then "bla" else "" <replaceable>...</replaceable>
})
</programlisting>
instead of
<programlisting>
args:
args.stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
<replaceable>...</replaceable> if args ? doCoverageAnalysis &amp;&amp; args.doCoverageAnalysis then "bla" else "" <replaceable>...</replaceable>
})
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-package-naming">
<title>Package naming</title>
<para>
The key words
<emphasis>must</emphasis>,
<emphasis>must not</emphasis>,
<emphasis>required</emphasis>,
<emphasis>shall</emphasis>,
<emphasis>shall not</emphasis>,
<emphasis>should</emphasis>,
<emphasis>should not</emphasis>,
<emphasis>recommended</emphasis>,
<emphasis>may</emphasis>,
and <emphasis>optional</emphasis> in this section
are to be interpreted as described in
<link xlink:href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119">RFC 2119</link>.
Only <emphasis>emphasized</emphasis> words are to be interpreted in this way.
</para>
<para>
In Nixpkgs, there are generally three different names associated with a
package:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
The <varname>name</varname> attribute of the derivation (excluding the
version part). This is what most users see, in particular when using
<command>nix-env</command>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The variable name used for the instantiated package in
<filename>all-packages.nix</filename>, and when passing it as a
dependency to other functions. Typically this is called the
<emphasis>package attribute name</emphasis>. This is what Nix expression
authors see. It can also be used when installing using <command>nix-env
-iA</command>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The filename for (the directory containing) the Nix expression.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
Most of the time, these are the same. For instance, the package
<literal>e2fsprogs</literal> has a <varname>name</varname> attribute
<literal>"e2fsprogs-<replaceable>version</replaceable>"</literal>, is bound
to the variable name <varname>e2fsprogs</varname> in
<filename>all-packages.nix</filename>, and the Nix expression is in
<filename>pkgs/os-specific/linux/e2fsprogs/default.nix</filename>.
</para>
<para>
There are a few naming guidelines:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
The <literal>name</literal> attribute <emphasis>should</emphasis>
be identical to the upstream package name.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The <literal>name</literal> attribute <emphasis>must not</emphasis>
contain uppercase letters — e.g., <literal>"mplayer-1.0rc2"</literal>
instead of <literal>"MPlayer-1.0rc2"</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
The version part of the <literal>name</literal> attribute
<emphasis>must</emphasis> start with a digit (following a dash) — e.g.,
<literal>"hello-0.3.1rc2"</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
If a package is not a release but a commit from a repository, then the
version part of the name <emphasis>must</emphasis> be the date of that
(fetched) commit. The date <emphasis>must</emphasis> be in <literal>"YYYY-MM-DD"</literal>
format. Also append <literal>"unstable"</literal> to the name - e.g.,
<literal>"pkgname-unstable-2014-09-23"</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Dashes in the package name <emphasis>should</emphasis> be preserved in new variable names,
rather than converted to underscores or camel cased — e.g.,
<varname>http-parser</varname> instead of <varname>http_parser</varname>
or <varname>httpParser</varname>. The hyphenated style is preferred in
all three package names.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
If there are multiple versions of a package, this <emphasis>should</emphasis> be reflected in
the variable names in <filename>all-packages.nix</filename>, e.g.
<varname>json-c-0-9</varname> and <varname>json-c-0-11</varname>. If
there is an obvious “default” version, make an attribute like
<literal>json-c = json-c-0-9;</literal>. See also
<xref linkend="sec-versioning" />
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-organisation">
<title>File naming and organisation</title>
<para>
Names of files and directories should be in lowercase, with dashes between
words — not in camel case. For instance, it should be
<filename>all-packages.nix</filename>, not
<filename>allPackages.nix</filename> or
<filename>AllPackages.nix</filename>.
</para>
<section xml:id="sec-hierarchy">
<title>Hierarchy</title>
<para>
Each package should be stored in its own directory somewhere in the
<filename>pkgs/</filename> tree, i.e. in
<filename>pkgs/<replaceable>category</replaceable>/<replaceable>subcategory</replaceable>/<replaceable>...</replaceable>/<replaceable>pkgname</replaceable></filename>.
Below are some rules for picking the right category for a package. Many
packages fall under several categories; what matters is the
<emphasis>primary</emphasis> purpose of a package. For example, the
<literal>libxml2</literal> package builds both a library and some tools;
but its a library foremost, so it goes under
<filename>pkgs/development/libraries</filename>.
</para>
<para>
When in doubt, consider refactoring the <filename>pkgs/</filename> tree,
e.g. creating new categories or splitting up an existing category.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its used to support <emphasis>software development</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>library</emphasis> used by other packages:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>development/libraries</filename> (e.g.
<filename>libxml2</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>compiler</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>development/compilers</filename> (e.g.
<filename>gcc</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its an <emphasis>interpreter</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>development/interpreters</filename> (e.g.
<filename>guile</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a (set of) development <emphasis>tool(s)</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>parser generator</emphasis> (including lexers):
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>development/tools/parsing</filename> (e.g.
<filename>bison</filename>, <filename>flex</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>build manager</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>development/tools/build-managers</filename> (e.g.
<filename>gnumake</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
Else:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>development/tools/misc</filename> (e.g.
<filename>binutils</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
Else:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>development/misc</filename>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a (set of) <emphasis>tool(s)</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
(A tool is a relatively small program, especially one intended to be
used non-interactively.)
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its for <emphasis>networking</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>tools/networking</filename> (e.g.
<filename>wget</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its for <emphasis>text processing</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>tools/text</filename> (e.g. <filename>diffutils</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>system utility</emphasis>, i.e., something related or essential to the operation of a system:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>tools/system</filename> (e.g. <filename>cron</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its an <emphasis>archiver</emphasis> (which may include a compression function):
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>tools/archivers</filename> (e.g. <filename>zip</filename>,
<filename>tar</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>compression</emphasis> program:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>tools/compression</filename> (e.g.
<filename>gzip</filename>, <filename>bzip2</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>security</emphasis>-related program:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>tools/security</filename> (e.g. <filename>nmap</filename>,
<filename>gnupg</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
Else:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>tools/misc</filename>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>shell</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>shells</filename> (e.g. <filename>bash</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>server</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a web server:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>servers/http</filename> (e.g.
<filename>apache-httpd</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its an implementation of the X Windowing System:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>servers/x11</filename> (e.g. <filename>xorg</filename>
this includes the client libraries and programs)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
Else:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>servers/misc</filename>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>desktop environment</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>desktops</filename> (e.g. <filename>kde</filename>,
<filename>gnome</filename>, <filename>enlightenment</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>window manager</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/window-managers</filename> (e.g.
<filename>awesome</filename>, <filename>stumpwm</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its an <emphasis>application</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
A (typically large) program with a distinct user interface, primarily
used interactively.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>version management system</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/version-management</filename> (e.g.
<filename>subversion</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its for <emphasis>video playback / editing</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/video</filename> (e.g.
<filename>vlc</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its for <emphasis>graphics viewing / editing</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/graphics</filename> (e.g.
<filename>gimp</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its for <emphasis>networking</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>mailreader</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/networking/mailreaders</filename> (e.g.
<filename>thunderbird</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>newsreader</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/networking/newsreaders</filename> (e.g.
<filename>pan</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>web browser</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/networking/browsers</filename> (e.g.
<filename>firefox</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
Else:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/networking/misc</filename>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
Else:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>applications/misc</filename>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its <emphasis>data</emphasis> (i.e., does not have a straight-forward executable semantics):
</term>
<listitem>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>font</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>data/fonts</filename>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its related to <emphasis>SGML/XML processing</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its an <emphasis>XML DTD</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>data/sgml+xml/schemas/xml-dtd</filename> (e.g.
<filename>docbook</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its an <emphasis>XSLT stylesheet</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
(Okay, these are executable...)
</para>
<para>
<filename>data/sgml+xml/stylesheets/xslt</filename> (e.g.
<filename>docbook-xsl</filename>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
If its a <emphasis>game</emphasis>:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>games</filename>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
Else:
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<filename>misc</filename>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-versioning">
<title>Versioning</title>
<para>
Because every version of a package in Nixpkgs creates a potential
maintenance burden, old versions of a package should not be kept unless
there is a good reason to do so. For instance, Nixpkgs contains several
versions of GCC because other packages dont build with the latest
version of GCC. Other examples are having both the latest stable and latest
pre-release version of a package, or to keep several major releases of an
application that differ significantly in functionality.
</para>
<para>
If there is only one version of a package, its Nix expression should be
named <filename>e2fsprogs/default.nix</filename>. If there are multiple
versions, this should be reflected in the filename, e.g.
<filename>e2fsprogs/1.41.8.nix</filename> and
<filename>e2fsprogs/1.41.9.nix</filename>. The version in the filename
should leave out unnecessary detail. For instance, if we keep the latest
Firefox 2.0.x and 3.5.x versions in Nixpkgs, they should be named
<filename>firefox/2.0.nix</filename> and
<filename>firefox/3.5.nix</filename>, respectively (which, at a given
point, might contain versions <literal>2.0.0.20</literal> and
<literal>3.5.4</literal>). If a version requires many auxiliary files, you
can use a subdirectory for each version, e.g.
<filename>firefox/2.0/default.nix</filename> and
<filename>firefox/3.5/default.nix</filename>.
</para>
<para>
All versions of a package <emphasis>must</emphasis> be included in
<filename>all-packages.nix</filename> to make sure that they evaluate
correctly.
</para>
</section>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-sources">
<title>Fetching Sources</title>
<para>
There are multiple ways to fetch a package source in nixpkgs. The general
guideline is that you should package sources with a high degree of
availability. Right now there is only one fetcher which has mirroring
support and that is <literal>fetchurl</literal>. Note that you should also
prefer protocols which have a corresponding proxy environment variable.
</para>
<para>
You can find many source fetch helpers in
<literal>pkgs/build-support/fetch*</literal>.
</para>
<para>
In the file <literal>pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix</literal> you can find
fetch helpers, these have names on the form <literal>fetchFrom*</literal>.
The intention of these are to provide snapshot fetches but using the same
api as some of the version controlled fetchers from
<literal>pkgs/build-support/</literal>. As an example going from bad to
good:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Bad: Uses <literal>git://</literal> which won't be proxied.
<programlisting>
src = fetchgit {
url = "git://github.com/NixOS/nix.git";
rev = "1f795f9f44607cc5bec70d1300150bfefcef2aae";
sha256 = "1cw5fszffl5pkpa6s6wjnkiv6lm5k618s32sp60kvmvpy7a2v9kg";
}
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Better: This is ok, but an archive fetch will still be faster.
<programlisting>
src = fetchgit {
url = "https://github.com/NixOS/nix.git";
rev = "1f795f9f44607cc5bec70d1300150bfefcef2aae";
sha256 = "1cw5fszffl5pkpa6s6wjnkiv6lm5k618s32sp60kvmvpy7a2v9kg";
}
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Best: Fetches a snapshot archive and you get the rev you want.
<programlisting>
src = fetchFromGitHub {
owner = "NixOS";
repo = "nix";
rev = "1f795f9f44607cc5bec70d1300150bfefcef2aae";
sha256 = "1i2yxndxb6yc9l6c99pypbd92lfq5aac4klq7y2v93c9qvx2cgpc";
}
</programlisting>
Find the value to put as <literal>sha256</literal> by running
<literal>nix run -f '&lt;nixpkgs&gt;' nix-prefetch-github -c nix-prefetch-github --rev 1f795f9f44607cc5bec70d1300150bfefcef2aae NixOS nix</literal>
or <literal>nix-prefetch-url --unpack https://github.com/NixOS/nix/archive/1f795f9f44607cc5bec70d1300150bfefcef2aae.tar.gz</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</section>
<section xml:id="sec-patches">
<title>Patches</title>
<para>
Patches available online should be retrieved using
<literal>fetchpatch</literal>.
</para>
<para>
<programlisting>
patches = [
(fetchpatch {
name = "fix-check-for-using-shared-freetype-lib.patch";
url = "http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=patch;h=8f5d285";
sha256 = "1f0k043rng7f0rfl9hhb89qzvvksqmkrikmm38p61yfx51l325xr";
})
];
</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
Otherwise, you can add a <literal>.patch</literal> file to the
<literal>nixpkgs</literal> repository. In the interest of keeping our
maintenance burden to a minimum, only patches that are unique to
<literal>nixpkgs</literal> should be added in this way.
</para>
<para>
<programlisting>
patches = [ ./0001-changes.patch ];
</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
If you do need to do create this sort of patch file, one way to do so is
with git:
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Move to the root directory of the source code you're patching.
<screen>
$ cd the/program/source</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
If a git repository is not already present, create one and stage all of
the source files.
<screen>
$ git init
$ git add .</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Edit some files to make whatever changes need to be included in the
patch.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Use git to create a diff, and pipe the output to a patch file:
<screen>
$ git diff > nixpkgs/pkgs/the/package/0001-changes.patch</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</para>
</section>
</chapter>