Consistency across a team.
WHY THEY MATTER
Consistent code is read faster, and differences become meaningful rather than stylistic.
WHAT TO AUTOMATE
Formatting, entirely.
WHY
It ends style discussion permanently, and removes it from review.
WHAT TO DEFINE BEYOND FORMATTING
Naming conventions Project structure Error handling approach Logging approach Testing expectations What is prohibited, and why
WHAT TO KEEP SHORT
The document.
WHY
Long standards are not read.
WHAT TO BASE THEM ON
The language's established conventions, where they exist.
WHY
Newcomers already know them, and tooling supports them.
WHAT TO ENFORCE AUTOMATICALLY
Whatever can be.
WHAT TO LEAVE TO JUDGEMENT
Everything else.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT DISAGREEMENT
Decide, record the decision, and move on.
WHY
Consistency matters more than which option was chosen.
WHAT TO REVIEW
The standards, occasionally, as the team and languages change.
WHAT TO DO IN AN EXISTING CODEBASE
Follow what is there, or change it deliberately and completely.
