cpplint or cpplint.py is an open source lint-like tool developed by Google, designed to ensure that C++ code conforms to Google's coding style guides.
Therefore cpplint implements what Google considers best practices in C++ coding.
The script cpplint.py reads source code files and flags deviations from the style guide.
It is rules based, and uses a number of heuristics to identify bad code.
[1] Cpplint is not perfect, as it can suffer from occasional false positives and negatives.