Variables - TheRedLady/nemetschek_internship GitHub Wiki

Naming Variables

General Naming Considerations

• Does the name fully and accurately describe what the variable represents?
• Does the name refer to the real-world problem rather than to the programming-language solution?
• Is the name long enough that you don't have to puzzle it out?
• Are computed-value qualifiers, if any, at the end of the name?
• Does the name use Count or Index instead of Num?

Naming Specific Kinds of Data

• Are loop index names meaningful (something other than i, j, or k if the loop is more than one or two lines long or is nested)?
• Have all "temporary" variables been renamed to something more meaningful?
• Are boolean variables named so that their meanings when they're true are clear?
• Are named constants named for the abstract entities they represent rather than the numbers they refer to?

Short Names

• Does the code use long names (unless it's necessary to use short ones)?
• Does the code avoid abbreviations that save only one character?
• Are the names pronounceable?
• Are names that could be misread or mispronounced avoided?

Common Naming Problems: Have You Avoided...

• ...names that are misleading?
• ...names with similar meanings?
• ...names that are different by only one or two characters?
• ...names that sound similar?
• ...names that use numerals?
• ...names intentionally misspelled to make them shorter?
• ...names that are commonly misspelled in English?
• ...names that conflict with standard library routine names or with predefined variable names?
• ...totally arbitrary names?
• ...hard-to-read characters?