Methods and computer program products for providing warnings and hints related to coding conventions using a coding style definition are provided. A source code is received, and a coding style definition is read. The source code is parsed to determine whether the source code adheres to the conventions in the coding style definition. Warnings are provided to indicate where the source code deviates from the coding style definition, if the source code fails to adhere to the conventions in the coding style definition. If the source code correctly adheres to the conventions in the coding style, hints can be provided to the compiler and linker so that they can optimize effectively using information that the compiler and linker would not normally have.