Here are Good Code Lite (TM) guidelines that are achievable and maintainable in the academic sphere. I have also split these recommendations into 3 tiers of effort, depending on the application: each new tier builds upon the previous ones.

Are you tired of writing the same lines of code to prettify your matplotlib every time you make a plot? Are you trying to find a semi-productive activity to delay returning to your actual responsibilities for another 10 to 15 minutes?

If the answer the either or both of these questions is, LET’S MAKE A STYLE SHEET!

After talking to fellow PhD students I realised that although everyone was familiar with the term “Open Source”, their definitions were neither consistent nor accurate.

This is a quick summary for beginners, to try to tackle these misconceptions.