diff --git a/.astylerc b/.astylerc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..468ecf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.astylerc
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_style=allman
+# use the allman style for braces
+--style=allman
+
+# http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_lineend
+# newlines for all line endings
+--lineend=linux
+
+# http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_indent=spaces
+# 4 space indents
+--indent=spaces=4
+
+# http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_add-braces
+# don't leave any unbraced one-line blocks by changing:
+#   if (thing)
+#      statement;
+#
+# to
+#   if (thing)
+#   {
+#       statement;
+#   }
+#
+# --add-braces
+
+# http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_indent-preproc-cond
+# line up #if/#endif with the code
+#
+#    statement;
+#    #if SOMETHING
+#    statement;
+#    #endif
+#
+--indent-preproc-cond
+
+# http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_indent-preproc-block
+# indent top level preprocessor block contents
+#
+# #ifdef __ARDUINO__
+#     #include "Arduino.h"
+# #endif
+#
+--indent-preproc-block
+
+# normalize spacing around parenthese
+#   http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_unpad-paren
+#   first, remove all whitespace on either side of a paren
+--unpad-paren
+#   http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_pad-paren-out
+#   then add a space on the "outer" side of a paren
+--pad-paren-out
+
+# http://astyle.sourceforge.net/astyle.html#_max-code-length
+# we've got big monitors these days....
+--max-code-length=180
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3160275..0a7a756 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 .development
 *.zip
+*.orig
+*~
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d111399..4b1f793 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,3 +10,14 @@ The library currently supports the AVR ATTiny84/85 & ATMega88/168/328/32u4 and T
 	extern void notifyDccAccState( uint16_t Addr, uint16_t BoardAddr, uint8_t OutputAddr, uint8_t State )
 	extern void notifyDccSigState( uint16_t Addr, uint8_t OutputIndex, uint8_t State) 
 
+
+
+Developers:
+   Use of the supplied git pre-commit hook is encouraged.  This will require installation of the 'astyle' package for formatting source file.
+   See http://astyle.sourceforge.net for details on this package.
+
+   On Linux or Mac development machines, run the following command after you clone the repository:
+
+       ln -s support/pre-commit .git/hooks/pre-commit
+
+   Reformatting the source code to the preferred style is easy using astyle.  Just run 'astyle --options=.astylerc NmraDcc.h NmraDcc.cpp'
diff --git a/support/pre-commit b/support/pre-commit
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..19f401d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/support/pre-commit
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+FORMAT_SOURCES="NmraDcc.h NmraDcc.cpp"
+
+error=0
+
+for file in ${FORMAT_SOURCES}
+do
+  output=$(mktemp -t stylecheckXXXXXXX)
+  astyle --options=.astylerc < $file > $output
+  if ! cmp -s $file $output
+  then
+    echo "Formatting on $file doesn't match expectations"
+    diff -u $file $output
+    error=1
+  fi
+  [ -f $output ] && rm $output
+done
+
+exit $error