Article View: comp.lang.misc
Article #5303Re: Readable names
From: Erland Sommarskog
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1988 08:34
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1988 08:34
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1606 bytes
Richard Harter (g-rh@CCA.CCA.COM.UUCP) writes:
>Just a note -- it is my experience that long (readable) identifier names
>should not be used. They appear to make a program more readable and
>self documenting, and so on. However there are two disadvantages:
>The first is that they make code very bulky; secondly it is harder to
>keep track of names. I.e. you have to remember, at each writing, the
>exact words used in the name.
The examples I had in my article were of course extreme examples to
illustrate my point about case shifts. If your note was directed against
such extremes, I agree with you.
But if you mean to imply that NumOfAcc would be better than
NumberOfAccidents, I have to object. NumOfAcc is harder to remember,
since I have to remember the exact abbreviation too. (Your first argument
may still be valid, though. Particulary if it is a freqeuntly used name.)
As a whole, choosing names that are easy to remember and to understand
is not always that easy.
--
Erland Sommarskog
ENEA Data, Stockholm
sommar@enea.UUCP "Si tu crois l'amour tabou...
Regarde bien, les yeux d'un fou!!!" -- Ange
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!enea!sommar From: sommar@enea.se (Erland Sommarskog) Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc Subject: Re: Readable names Message-ID: <2857@enea.se> Date: 16 Mar 88 08:34:29 GMT References: <2318@bsu-cs.UUCP> <2835@enea.se> <1810@sics.se> <25548@cca.CCA.COM> Reply-To: sommar@enea.UUCP(Erland Sommarskog) Followup-To: comp.lang.misc Organization: ENEA DATA AB, Sweden Lines: 22