#Codekit output style guide manuals
#Codekit output style guide code
#Codekit output style guide series

It shouldnвЂ™t evaluate estimates or rely on macros that it has not created itself (see my comments on global vs. The do-file should load its own data sets, execute its own commands, and initiate logging. In other words, each do-file should be able to run as a stand-alone program without relying on the user to first load a dataset or take other action. A log file can easily be created using the log using command: log using logname.txt, replace text b.В Make do-files self-contained

I also prefer to log as text, even though StataвЂ™s default is SCML, it is generally quicker and easier to open a log file (particularly if it is on a machine without Stata or a SCMLВ viewer - like a mobile device). Every do-file should open a log file (preferred) or append to an existing log. Log files can help you trace errors, preserve output, and provide documentation. The importance of a Log file cannot be over emphasized. I tend to keep suggestions from both, as well as several other practices in mind as I work though my do-files: a.В Always create a log

#Codekit output style guide manuals

Processes in Stata have been documented extensively in manuals and books published by the Stata Press (See Long, 2009 and Kohler & Kreuter, 2012 for two very useful examples).

The stylistic approach that I take to writing do-files can be broken down into two key categories: (1) process and (2) format and style. Legible do-filesВ are documented and formatted so that it is easy to understand what is being done. вЂњ Robust do-files produces exactly the same result when run at a later time or on another computer. Generally, do-files should be Robust and Legible (Long, 2009). Indeed, there are do-files that make me more proud than any paper IвЂ™ve written. I suspect a true вЂњprogrammerвЂќ would scoff at the relative simplicity of a Stata do-file, but those of us in the various disciplines that rely heavily on Stata for data analysis know that a Stata do-file can become quite the complex beast, reflecting hours (if not days) of work. In Stata, at its most basic level, a do-file is simply a text file that contains a script of commands for Stata to execute. CoxвЂ™s, though primarily focused on Stata programs (.ado files) rather than procedural вЂњ.doвЂќ files, goes to great great lengths to support the idea that above all else, programs must be clear. McCann focuses on themes specifically relevant to general programming, but some of theseВ themes are also woven throughout вЂњSuggestions on Stata programming styleвЂќ (Cox, 2005), appearing in the Stata Journal. As McCann (1997) says, it is important toВ strive to вЂњstructure and document your program the way you wish other programmers wouldвЂќ (that is my emphasis on the document).

#Codekit output style guide code

Our code should be well thought out, well organized, and well documented. In the wake ofВ the LaCour Scandal, the importance of documenting our data, our processes, and our analyses so that others can evaluate what we have done can hardly be understated. If it takes you a while to figure it out, how long would it take someone else to figure it out?вЂќ Put it away for a few months, and it will most like take you a while to figure out what it does and how it does it. вЂњA program that is perfectly clear today is clear only because you just wrote it. Lester McCann (1997), a senior lecturer at the University of Arizona, outlines the importance of programming style in Toward Developing Good ProgrammingВ Style (written for C and for Pascal for those of us who are that old). As with any written document, it exists to be read, and the readability of Stata code by the codeвЂ™s creator, a colleague, or a mere spectator, depends upon the style in which the code is written. The code itself stands as a documentation of the programmerвЂ™s mind вЂ“ how the problem addressed by the code, the approach taken, and the end result. However, the second purpose of computer code is to provide a record of what instructions were given. As long as the syntax is correct, the program will run.

Stata doesnвЂ™t care much about style, its only concern is syntax. We are explaining to Stata, step by step, what we wish it to do.

#Codekit output style guide series

The first purpose, which Wilde may have seen as вЂњsincerityвЂќ is to communicate a series of commands to the computer. Stata code, like computer code of any kind, has two purposes. Wilde, well known in his time for decadent style and flamboyant behavior, could have never imagined that his rather abruptly put witticism, extolling the virtue of style, can also aptly be applied to writing code in Stata. вЂ“ Oscar Wilde,В вЂњ Phrases and Philosophies for the YoungвЂњ In all important matters, style, not sincerity is the essential.вЂќ

вЂњIn all unimportant matters, style, not sincerity is the essential.