Variable Naming CHECKLIST
Posted by Unknown in Readability on 2009/10/23
According from Code Complete 2nd
CHECKLIST: 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?
● Do enumerated-type names include a prefix or suffix that indicates the category—for example, Color_ for Color_Red, Color_Green, Color_Blue, and so on?
● Are named constants named for the abstract entities they represent rather than the numbers they refer to?
Naming Conventions
● Does the convention distinguish among local, class, and global data?
● Does the convention distinguish among type names, named constants, enumerated types, and variables?
● Does the convention identify input-only parameters to routines in languages that don’t enforce them?
● Is the convention as compatible as possible with standard conventions for the language?
● Are names formatted for readability?
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 all words abbreviated consistently?
● Are the names pronounceable?
● Are names that could be mispronounced avoided?
● Are short names documented in translation tables?
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?
CHECKLIST: 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?
● Do enumerated-type names include a prefix or suffix that indicates the category—for example, Color_ for Color_Red, Color_Green, Color_Blue, and so on?
● Are named constants named for the abstract entities they represent rather than the numbers they refer to?
Naming Conventions
● Does the convention distinguish among local, class, and global data?
● Does the convention distinguish among type names, named constants, enumerated types, and variables?
● Does the convention identify input-only parameters to routines in languages that don’t enforce them?
● Is the convention as compatible as possible with standard conventions for the language?
● Are names formatted for readability?
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 all words abbreviated consistently?
● Are the names pronounceable?
● Are names that could be mispronounced avoided?
● Are short names documented in translation tables?
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?
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