this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023
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Does anyone have any good advice on variable naming? Here's some of my rules I try to live by:
utils_FooBar
is
not
in bool names._
g_VARIABLENAME
calc_ImportantValueThatWillDecideTheUsersView
is better thancalc_SumYears
if the variable is more important than the others.Edit: I realize I was speaking about function-naming with the prefix stuff.
For variables, I still use prefixes, but for variable type. Even if you define the variables as types, it's still incredibly useful. For instance,
a string is
s_MyName
,enumerable is
e_MyType
,A number is int or double or whatever
i_MyAge
ord_MyWeight
This might be obvious for custom objects, but I'd still do it like this
p_Person
orper_Person
.Seriously it does make a huge difference
I have to disagree on some points, but I def feel like you're helping me learn, so for that I am grateful.
I feel like you're speaking from the perspective of a perfect coding environment, which if you have that, that's great. Maybe all your code is in one place, maybe you have an IDE that does a lot of the work for you, and that's great. However, for most of us, that's rarely the case.
Prefixes have been an absolute game changer for me personally, and I will never not use them again.
I have also found that verbosity of variable name and readability are mutually exclusive. A long variable name, most of the time, takes away from the logic. Yes, they are "free" as far as memory, but are very expensive to reliability.
Units tests, again are great, but most places think unit tests are like golden toilets. It sucks, but that's the way it is. Usually you're given a task, and if it's not done next week, maybe you're not as good as they thought.