Programming Standards for the Information Systems Curriculum

Computer Information Systems Departments face a diverse set of platforms, languages, and architectures that make it difficult to establish a single, uniform guideline for coding standards and programming best practices. There are multiple “standards” available from vendors, associations, individuals, and user groups. Students and faculty alike benefit from practicing certain programming standards. Students become comfortable using an accepted, widely used style, and thus adapt more easily to a programming team upon entering the corporate world. There is considerable agreement that utilizing standards leads to better quality code that is easier to maintain. The goal of this project is to produce a set of recommendations toward a programming standards document for the CIS department. Research was done to identify the details behind multiple operating standards recommended by programming texts and supplier resources. Software professionals from several companies were interviewed to learn what standardized practices they employ. A set of base recommendations that seem to overlap the many offerings has been established by the CIS department based upon the results.