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  3. Best practices question - how do you name your variables?

Best practices question - how do you name your variables?

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  • V Vikram A Punathambekar

    This is partly with regard to a Lounge thread the other day. FxCop will catch you if you use variables with incorrect spelling. Do you always name variables using standard* English** words? I found that I use only one variable name regularly that is not a standard word, conn for connection. 1. Do you make it a point to name variables correctly, like transactionDate instead of trDate, or, God forbid, trDt? 2. Where do you make exceptions to the above rule? * Of course, obscure technical terms may, and even should be used in certain cases, but I'm not talking about that here. ** Or any other human language, as appropriate. Cheers, Vikram.


    "When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton. i dont mind to be a stupid,better than being a moron - Adnan Siddiqi.

    J Offline
    J Offline
    Jain Mohit
    wrote on last edited by
    #12

    m_strThisIsHowIDeclareMyStringMemberVariable :cool:

    1 Reply Last reply
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    • V Vikram A Punathambekar

      Marc Clifton wrote:

      I don't use FxCop

      But still, how do you name your variables? Cheers, Vikram.


      "When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton. i dont mind to be a stupid,better than being a moron - Adnan Siddiqi.

      M Offline
      M Offline
      Marc Clifton
      wrote on last edited by
      #13

      Vikram Shannon wrote:

      But still, how do you name your variables?

      Properties and fields I usually don't abbreviate, unless they're ridiculously long. Local variables, I'm fine with short names, even acronyms. So, I might have something like this (this is an example only, and not intended to be an example of any kind of code I'm using!):

      public class Foo
      {
      protected SchemaDomain schemaDomain;

      public SchemaDomain SchemaDomain
      {
      get; set;
      }

      public SchemaDomain Clone(SchemaDomain schemaDomainToClone)
      {
      SchemaDomain sd=schemaDomainToClone.Clone(); // EXAMPLE ONLY!
      return sd;
      }
      }

      The point being that I try to use informative names for visible aspects of the class, and names for parameters that relate to what is expected, but internally, if we're talking simple functionality, I'll use abbreviations. If the method is more than a few lines (say, 10 or 20) I seem to subconsciously revert back to more descriptive local variable names to keep things a bit clearer. Marc Pensieve -- modified at 8:10 Thursday 19th January, 2006

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      • V Vikram A Punathambekar

        This is partly with regard to a Lounge thread the other day. FxCop will catch you if you use variables with incorrect spelling. Do you always name variables using standard* English** words? I found that I use only one variable name regularly that is not a standard word, conn for connection. 1. Do you make it a point to name variables correctly, like transactionDate instead of trDate, or, God forbid, trDt? 2. Where do you make exceptions to the above rule? * Of course, obscure technical terms may, and even should be used in certain cases, but I'm not talking about that here. ** Or any other human language, as appropriate. Cheers, Vikram.


        "When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton. i dont mind to be a stupid,better than being a moron - Adnan Siddiqi.

        C Offline
        C Offline
        Curtis Schlak
        wrote on last edited by
        #14

        FxCop supports a custom dictionary. (I don't know if it supports Unicode.) From FxCop FAQ[^]:

        Create a file named CustomDictionary.xml. Add the following XML structure, with the new words (case insensitive) under the <Recognized> node.

        <Dictionary>    <Words>
                <Recognized>
                       <Word>aNewWord</Word>               <Word>AnotherNewWord</Word>        </Recognized>
            </Words>
        </Dictionary>

        To use the dictionary with all projects, place the file in the FxCop install directory (usually C:\Program Files\Microsoft FxCop). For project-specific dictionaries, place the file in a separate directory along with the project file. For the words to be recognized, you must close and restart FxCop after creating or modifying the custom dictionary.

        "we must lose precision to make significant statements about complex systems." -deKorvin on uncertainty

        V 1 Reply Last reply
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        • C Colin Angus Mackay

          Vikram Shannon wrote:

          Long story, but a troll made some outrageous remarks, so I'm getting my revenge tongue in cheek.

          Can I get three guesses as to who it was? :laugh: ColinMackay.net "Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in." -- Confucius "If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him, for an investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -- Joseph E. O'Donnell

          V Offline
          V Offline
          Vikram A Punathambekar
          wrote on last edited by
          #15

          I'll give you one. Go ahead, guess. :-D He's a major PITA. :sigh: Cheers, Vikram.


          "When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton. i dont mind to be a stupid,better than being a moron - Adnan Siddiqi.

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • V Vikram A Punathambekar

            This is partly with regard to a Lounge thread the other day. FxCop will catch you if you use variables with incorrect spelling. Do you always name variables using standard* English** words? I found that I use only one variable name regularly that is not a standard word, conn for connection. 1. Do you make it a point to name variables correctly, like transactionDate instead of trDate, or, God forbid, trDt? 2. Where do you make exceptions to the above rule? * Of course, obscure technical terms may, and even should be used in certain cases, but I'm not talking about that here. ** Or any other human language, as appropriate. Cheers, Vikram.


            "When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton. i dont mind to be a stupid,better than being a moron - Adnan Siddiqi.

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #16

            Why do people use for example, strMyName as a variable? Isnt it obvious it is a string? Or how about intCount! Holy cow, its a number of some sort. p for pointers, g for globals everything else just as it is, ie, a full descriptive variable name. Nunc est bibendum

            R 1 Reply Last reply
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            • L Lost User

              Why do people use for example, strMyName as a variable? Isnt it obvious it is a string? Or how about intCount! Holy cow, its a number of some sort. p for pointers, g for globals everything else just as it is, ie, a full descriptive variable name. Nunc est bibendum

              R Offline
              R Offline
              Rage
              wrote on last edited by
              #17

              fat_boy wrote:

              Why do people use for example, strMyName as a variable? Isnt it obvious it is a string?

              Because strInteger is a string, and iString a number of strings. What is best:

              SetWindowText(Integer); // Integer is text ?? :confused:
              Display(Strings[String]); // String as an array index ??? :confused:

              or

              SetWindowText(strInteger);
              Display(straStrings[iString]);

              ~RaGE();

              L 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • R Rage

                fat_boy wrote:

                Why do people use for example, strMyName as a variable? Isnt it obvious it is a string?

                Because strInteger is a string, and iString a number of strings. What is best:

                SetWindowText(Integer); // Integer is text ?? :confused:
                Display(Strings[String]); // String as an array index ??? :confused:

                or

                SetWindowText(strInteger);
                Display(straStrings[iString]);

                ~RaGE();

                L Offline
                L Offline
                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #18

                them use IntegerAsString and NumberOfStrings as variable names. Nunc est bibendum

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                • V Vikram A Punathambekar

                  This is partly with regard to a Lounge thread the other day. FxCop will catch you if you use variables with incorrect spelling. Do you always name variables using standard* English** words? I found that I use only one variable name regularly that is not a standard word, conn for connection. 1. Do you make it a point to name variables correctly, like transactionDate instead of trDate, or, God forbid, trDt? 2. Where do you make exceptions to the above rule? * Of course, obscure technical terms may, and even should be used in certain cases, but I'm not talking about that here. ** Or any other human language, as appropriate. Cheers, Vikram.


                  "When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton. i dont mind to be a stupid,better than being a moron - Adnan Siddiqi.

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  David Crow
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #19

                  Vikram Shannon wrote:

                  1. Do you make it a point to name variables correctly, like transactionDate instead of trDate, or, God forbid, trDt?

                  Yes, I'm pretty anal about that.


                  "The words of God are not like the oak leaf which dies and falls to the earth, but like the pine tree which stays green forever." - Native American Proverb

                  1 Reply Last reply
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                  • V Vikram A Punathambekar

                    This is partly with regard to a Lounge thread the other day. FxCop will catch you if you use variables with incorrect spelling. Do you always name variables using standard* English** words? I found that I use only one variable name regularly that is not a standard word, conn for connection. 1. Do you make it a point to name variables correctly, like transactionDate instead of trDate, or, God forbid, trDt? 2. Where do you make exceptions to the above rule? * Of course, obscure technical terms may, and even should be used in certain cases, but I'm not talking about that here. ** Or any other human language, as appropriate. Cheers, Vikram.


                    "When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton. i dont mind to be a stupid,better than being a moron - Adnan Siddiqi.

                    T Offline
                    T Offline
                    toxcct
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #20

                    http://www.codeproject.com/script/survey/detail.asp?survey=438[^]


                    TOXCCT >>> GEII power
                    [toxcct][VisualCalc 2.20][VCalc 3.0 soon...]

                    1 Reply Last reply
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                    • C Curtis Schlak

                      FxCop supports a custom dictionary. (I don't know if it supports Unicode.) From FxCop FAQ[^]:

                      Create a file named CustomDictionary.xml. Add the following XML structure, with the new words (case insensitive) under the <Recognized> node.

                      <Dictionary>    <Words>
                              <Recognized>
                                     <Word>aNewWord</Word>               <Word>AnotherNewWord</Word>        </Recognized>
                          </Words>
                      </Dictionary>

                      To use the dictionary with all projects, place the file in the FxCop install directory (usually C:\Program Files\Microsoft FxCop). For project-specific dictionaries, place the file in a separate directory along with the project file. For the words to be recognized, you must close and restart FxCop after creating or modifying the custom dictionary.

                      "we must lose precision to make significant statements about complex systems." -deKorvin on uncertainty

                      V Offline
                      V Offline
                      Vikram A Punathambekar
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #21

                      Yup, I use that. Although, the only 'non-standard' name is conn, which I've added. :-O Cheers, Vikram.


                      "When I read in books about a "base class", I figured this was the class that was at the bottom of the inheritence tree. It's the "base", right? Like the base of a pyramid." - Marc Clifton. i dont mind to be a stupid,better than being a moron - Adnan Siddiqi.

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