With more companies starting to write Linux kernel code, an understanding of what is the acceptable kernel coding style and conventions is becoming a necessity. The goal of this paper is to explain both the written and unwritten Linux kernel programming style. It explains why a consistent coding style and rules are a requirement for the kernel. It discusses the basic kernel style rules as outlined in Documentation/CodingStyle and explains the large number of style rules that are not documented. Each of these rules is documented with existing code, and why the rule is considered a "good thing."

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