The Need For Coding Conventions

Consistently applied coding standards can improve the following in a software project:

Productivity. Productivity, as applied here to the actual writing of code, means saving "code time" without suffering some inherent quality penalty.
Quality. The quality of code is chiefly measured by its relative conformance to some technical specification and the ease with which it can be maintained.
Maintainability. Maintainable code is both repairable and extensible. Additionally, and in all cases, maintainable code is easy to comprehend, which facilitates achieving speedy, accurate modification.
Comprehensibility. Comprehensible code is both conformant (with some recognized standard) and consistent.