Erin Bensinger for The DEV Team

Posted on Apr 25, 2023 • Updated on May 2, 2023

#DEVDiscuss: Naming Things

#devdiscuss #programming #javascript

image created by Margaux Peltat for the Chilled Cow YouTube channel

Time for #DEVDiscuss — right here on DEV 😎

Inspired by @samuel-braun's Top 7 post, tonight’s topic is...naming things 😱

Naming: Every Developer's Nightmare

Samuel Braun ・ Apr 18 '23

#webdev #javascript #programming #tutorial

Questions:

Do you have a favorite naming pattern for variables?
What's the worst-named variable you've seen in the wild? Note: comments must abide by the Code of Conduct!
How do you feel about naming? Love it, hate it, indifferent?
Any triumphs, fails, or other stories you'd like to share on this topic?

Top comments (8)

Jean-Michel 🕵🏻‍♂️ Fayard • Apr 25 '23 • Edited

I take the iterative view: I choose the first non terrible thing that comes to mind, make things work, commit, look at my naming choices again, notice those that are lying and refactor them

Also when naming something very important, I explicitly ask for feedback in the PR.

Ervin Szilagyi • Apr 25 '23 • Edited

Do you have a favorite naming pattern for variables?

No, and probably you should not have one too. I recommend sticking to whatever the best practice is for your language/team/company etc.

What's the worst-named variable you've seen in the wild?

Probably everything that is using Hungarian notation. (btw, I'm Hungarian, lol)

How do you feel about naming? Love it, hate it, indifferent?

I'm indifferent.

Any triumphs, fails, or other stories you'd like to share on this topic?

I've seen this in a code base:

HasThisTypePatternTriedToSneakInSomeGenericOrParameterizedTypePatternMatchingStuffAnywhereVisitor -
javadoc

Tiziano • Apr 26 '23

HasThisTypePatternTriedToSneakInSomeGenericOrParameterizedTypePatternMatchingStuffAnywhereVisitor

That's so long it actually breaks the docs layout on mobile.

Thibaut Andrieu • Apr 26 '23

What's the worst-named variable you've seen in the wild?

Seen this in production code:

class Foo {
    struct Bar {
    }
}

Who knows ?...

bool isLoaded(){...}
bool isReallyLoaded(){...}

"In a galaxy far away":

long long timeAgo;

Any class ending with "Manager". They are always just a bunch of methods that do stuff.
I also have encountered that kind of pattern too many times...:

Color red = #00ff00;
int one = 2;
string windowsVersion = "Ubuntu1804";
float PI = 1.570;
...

Renan Cossenzo • Apr 26 '23

Do you have a favorite naming pattern for variables?
I like to follow c# coding conventions and always try to name anything with an explanation of what it means in the context
What's the worst-named variable you've seen in the wild?
Hungarian notation (i've just found out what it is) and abbreviations (I mean: what does "r1" variable mean???)
How do you feel about naming? Love it, hate it, indifferent?
I like naming. I think it is really important to be the most explicit as possible for other devs