Final

Always declare your functions and variables read only whenever possible.

REASONING: Sounds strange, but making as many things read only, no matter how small, has 2 purposes:

• Clarifies confusion to other developers

• Allows for a lot of optimization

Once you do it enough, it will become habit to make a variable read only. Of course, this only applies to variables you know you won't reassign

C++

Declare read only variables and functions const whenever possible.

Always make sure to mark as many things const including functions and input parameters. Think of const as a disease and you want to make sure that as many things have it.

Whenever possible, make something constexpr to allow for optimization.

NEVER use const_cast. If something is const, there is a reason for this. There are VERY LITTLE cases in which you HAVE to use const_cast legitimately.

Java

Declare read only variables final whenever possible.

Always declare input variables to functions final. In my opinion, it is bad practice (in Java) to reassign an input variable because it is unclear whether it is a reference or value. For example, primitives are usually passed by value, while class types are usually references. This can cause confusion, so just keep function parameters as final.

The name is a bit misleading, as a final variable can still have all of it's functions called on it. It simply can't be reassigned.