style50#

style50 is a command-line tool with which you can check your code for consistency with CS50’s style guide (for C). If your code isn’t styled consistently, style50 will summarize the changes you should make to your code, as by highlighting in green characters you should add and highlighting in red characters you should delete.

For instance, consider the code below, wherein the call to printf isn’t properly indented.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
printf("hello, world\n");
}

Given that code as input, style50 will output

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    printf("hello, world\n");
}

wherein highlighted are four spaces that should be added for style’s sake.

On the other hand, consider the code below, wherein the curly braces are unnecessarily indented.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
    {
    printf("hello, world\n");
    }

Given that code as input, style50 will output

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
    {
    printf("hello, world\n");
    }

wherein highlighted are four spaces that should be deleted for style’s sake.

Usage#

To check your code’s style, execute

style50 file

where file is the (path to some) file whose style you’d like to check.

Modes#

By default, style50 operates in character mode, but you can specify other modes with -o or --output.

Consider the (poorly styled) file below, hello.c, for a look at these modes.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
    {
printf("hello, world\n");
    }

character#

In character mode, style50 compares its input against CS50’s style guide character by character. Were you to run

style50 --output character hello.c

or just

style50 -o character hello.c

or even just

style50 hello.c

you would see the below.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{\n
    {\n
    printf("hello, world\n");
    }

split#

In split mode, style50 displays its input and output side by side. Were you to run

style50 --output split hello.c

or just

style50 -o split hello.c

you would see the below.

#include <stdio.h>               #include <stdio.h>

int main(void)                   int main(void)
    {                            {
printf("hello, world\n");            printf("hello, world\n");
    }                            }

unified#

In unified mode, style50 displays its output line by line, akin to git-diff. Were you to run

style50 --output unified hello.c

or just

style50 -o unified hello.c

you would see the below.

  #include <stdio.h>

  int main(void)
-     {
+ {
- printf("hello, world\n");
+     printf("hello, world\n");
-     }
+ }

Installation#

style50 is already installed for you in CS50 IDE, so no need to install it yourself; simply use it as directed!

If you’d like to install style50 on your own Mac or PC, so that you can check your code’s style without using CS50 IDE, you’ll need a command-line environment:

  • If running Linux or the like, you already have one! Open a terminal window in your usual way.

  • If running Mac OS, you already have one! Open Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

  • If running Windows, you’ll need to install the Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is only supported on Windows 10. Once installed, run bash.

To install style50 within that command-line environment:

  1. Install Python 2.7 or higher, if not already installed.

  2. Install pip, as via

    sudo easy_install pip

    if not already installed.

  3. Execute

    sudo pip3 install style50

    to install style50 itself.

  4. Install Artistic Style 3.0. If running a Debian-based operating system (e.g., Ubuntu Linux), simply run

    apt-get update
apt-get install astyle

    to install CS50’s own compiled version of astyle.

Upgrading#

Execute

sudo pip install --upgrade style50

to upgrade style50, once installed.

Source Code#

https://github.com/cs50/style50