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Chapter 2: Meaningful names [Slide]

Use Intention-Revealing Names

Using d instead of elapsedTimeInDays.

Avoid Disinformation

  • Using names like hp, aix where it has different meaning in different contexts.
  • Using AccountList for group of accounts where there is no list

Make Meaningful Distinctions

  • Using a1 and a2 instead of source and destination.
  • what's the difference between TheCustomer, CustomerData, CustomerInfo and Customer

Use Pronounceable Names

Don't compact names for sake of smaller words, eg. pref, mnger, genymdhms.

Use Searchable Names

Using constants and complete names make it easy to find them with search, eg. WORK_DAYS_PER_WEEK

Avoid Encodings

Hungarian Notation

In the modern IDE's there is no need to prefix with HN, eg. frmReserve, tblStudent.

Member Prefixes

Don't use stupid m prefix for field names, eg. mLatitude, mContext

Interfaces and Implementations

Prefer to suffix Implementation class, rather than Interface class eg. ShapeFactory for the interface and ShapeFactoryImpl for the implementation.

Avoid Mental Mapping

Readers shouldn’t have to mentally translate your names into other names they already know.

Class Names

noun or noun phrases

Method Names

  • methods should have verb or phrase names eg. deletePage(), save(), isEven(), setPoint(), hasElement()
  • prefer factory methods for multiple constructors

Don’t Be Cute

Using whack() instead of kill(), eatMyShorts() instead of abort(), nukeTable() instead of deleteAll()

Pick One Word per Concept

eg. fetch, retrieve and get

Don’t Pun

Avoid using the same word for two purposes. Using the same term for two different ideas is essentially a pun. eg. using add instead of insert for a method which is putting single parameter to a collection is a pun

Use Solution Domain Names

use computer science (CS) terms, algorithm names, pattern names, math terms

Use Problem Domain Names

When there is no “programmer-eese” for what you’re doing, use the name from the problem domain.

Add Meaningful Context

Separate your concerns using well-named :

  • Constant
  • Function
  • Class
  • Namespace
  • Package
  • Module

When all else fails, then prefixing the name may be necessary as a last resort.

Don’t Add Gratuitous Context

eg. GSDAccountAddress