Naming

Choosing the names of variables, functions and constants: a name that states the intent, the writing conventions of Python and Java, a function's verb, a boolean's prefix and hunting down magic numbers.

24 cards
5 topics
Free

Study this deck

The outline, topic by topic

Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.

Concepts
Questions
Sort and link
Scenarios
Understand

A few cards from the deck

Identifier: what is it?
Show the answer
A name chosen by the programmer to refer to a variable, a function, a class or a constant.
The program does not care which name is chosen, but the reader relies on it to understand: p says nothing, price_excl_tax says what the value stands for.
Which names make this calculation readable?

```python
t = 0.2
p = 50
r = p * (1 + t)
`
- taux_tva, prix_ht, prix_ttc
- nombre, valeur, calcul
- TauxTva, PrixHt, PrixTtc
- float1, float2, float3
Show the answer
taux_tva, prix_ht, prix_ttc
The first three names state each value's role and follow Python's snake_case. nombre, valeur and float1 would fit anything; TauxTva is the shape of a class.
A value written directly in the code with no explicit name is a …; it is replaced by a …, defined once.
Show the answer
A value written directly in the code with no explicit name is a magic number; it is replaced by a named constant, defined once.
The name makes the code readable and the value is changed in one place only, with no risk of missing an occurrence.
Naming convention: what is it?
Show the answer
A writing rule shared by a team or a language, which sets the shape of names according to their role: lowercase, uppercase, separators.
It lets you guess a name's role from its shape alone. It depends on the language: calculer_moyenne in Python, calculerMoyenne in Java.
A function tests whether a number is even and returns a boolean. Which name makes it clearest in use inside if ... (n):?
- pair
- est_pair
- verifier
- fonction1
Show the answer
est_pair
if est_pair(n): reads like a sentence. verifier does not say what is checked, fonction1 says nothing, and pair looks more like a value than a question.

Study this deck