All this, just for a few coding guidelines?

Coding guidelines are fundamental to a software team, just as direction and harmony are to music. They create consistency and cohesiveness. New team members will feel welcome and gel more quickly. Ye olde team members will accept newcomers more readily. The loss of a team member will not cripple the project just because someone can't understand someone else's code.

Keep in mind that speed is not the only measure of improvement in a program's code. Consider ease of testing, documentation, and maintenance just as important to any software project, especially for the long term. A language as flexible as Perl facilitates good coding in every stage of the software project. Although this book focuses on Perl, many of the principles are valid for other languages such as C, C++, Java, and Python.

Finally, be an innovator. Regardless of your position in the team -- manager or member -- always look for new ideas and put them into action. Perfection may be impossible, but it's a worthy goal. Innovators are the true strength of a team and without them the melody grows stale very quickly. Stay in touch with your peers; continually learn new things from them. A medium such as Usenet (see Resources) is a great place for an exchange of ideas. Teach and learn, to and from each other. Remember, there's always room for improvement. Above all, have fun, and let the music begin.