Question 1

How to enforce the Elixir Style Guide in my project?

Accepted Answer

Use Elixir's Mix format task for automatic formatting of whitespace and indentation rules, and integrate linters like Credo to check other conventions. The guide provides examples, but you'll need to configure these tools separately for full compliance.

Question 2

Elixir Style Guide vs Aleksei Magusev's guide: which one should I use?

Accepted Answer

This guide is community-driven and comprehensive, covering broad best practices with examples. Aleksei Magusev's guide is more opinionated and closer to Elixir core library conventions. Choose based on whether you prefer community consensus or alignment with core team styles.

Question 3

What are the key naming rules for Elixir functions?

Accepted Answer

Use snake_case for functions and variables, CamelCase for modules, and end predicate functions with '?' (e.g., valid?). For guard-safe checks, prefix with 'is_' as specified in the Naming section, ensuring idiomatic and readable code.

Question 4

How to handle documentation and typespecs according to the guide?

Accepted Answer

Use heredocs with markdown for @moduledoc and @doc, place typespecs right before function definitions without blank lines, and define main struct types as 't'. The guide provides ordering and formatting examples to improve maintainability.

Question 5

Does the style guide cover testing best practices?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it includes ExUnit guidelines, such as placing the actual expression on the left in assertions (e.g., assert actual == expected) and using multiline syntax for case clauses. However, it's brief compared to dedicated testing resources.

Question 6

How to contribute to the Elixir Style Guide?

Accepted Answer

Submit pull requests or suggestions via GitHub, as mentioned in the 'Getting Involved' section. The project welcomes community input to keep the guide updated, but changes may require consensus among contributors.

Elixir Style Guide

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