Appendix E: PuTTY hacking guide

This appendix lists a selection of the design principles applying to the PuTTY source code. If you are planning to send code contributions, you should read this first.

E.1 Cross-OS portability
E.2 Multiple backends treated equally
E.3 Multiple sessions per process on some platforms
E.4 C, not C++
E.5 Security-conscious coding
E.6 Independence of specific compiler
E.7 Small code size
E.8 Single-threaded code
E.9 Keystrokes sent to the server wherever possible
E.10 640×480 friendliness in configuration panels
E.11 Coroutines in protocol code
E.12 Explicit vtable structures to implement traits
E.13 Do as we say, not as we do