Most important PL/SQL coding standards?

Received this request today via email:

I was at the MOUG Fall Conference in Chicago a few weeks ago and enjoyed your presentation on the result cache. It’s already paying dividends for us. Thanks for coming and sharing. I have a question for you, and maybe you’ve already written about this and can point me toward an article or blog post. We will be revising our coding standards, which are rather loose and largely ignored, and I want to try to promote those that will give us the most benefit. What is your top ten list of the most important coding standards to implement? Thanks for your time, and I hope to see you at OOW. It will be my first trip there.

And I replied:

I love these kinds of requests, because it gives me an opportunity to take a fresh look and publish something on my blog. :-) I don’t think I will be able to get back to you until after OOW, hope that works OK. Please do come up and say hi if you see me!

And then I thought: wait a minute, let's ask all my fellow Oracle Database developers "out there", see what all of you think.

So here I am, there you are - and I'd love to hear from you:

What do you think are the most important coding standards for PL/SQL developers to follow?

By the way, check out some existing, published standards and frameworks here.

Nov 6 update: it's been a busy post-OOW week, so I haven't been able to formulate my complete answer yet. I like lots of the ideas submitted in the comments. But I have come up with nine keywords to drive my "most important." They are:

1. MAXSQL - maximize use of SQL first and foremost

2. SPOD - single point of definition

3. TRACE - production-available application-level tracing

4. LOG - consistent, encapsulated error logging

5. BULK - avoid row by row

6. OBVIOUS- make your code tell its own story, comment when it can't

7. NESTPROG - use nested subprograms

8. DECLARE- use declarative features of language

9. WARN - use compile-time warnings

November 12 2015: I have published an 8 minute video explaining these Top Nine. Hope you like it!