Naming convention (programming)
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In computer programming, a naming convention is a set of rules for choosing names. For more general usage, see Naming convention.
Contents
Description
Naming conventions are useful when choosing the character sequence to be used for identifiers which denote:
- variables
- [[Data type|Data types
- functions
- Other entities in source code and software documentation.
Description
Reasons for using a naming convention (as opposed to allowing programmers to choose any character sequence) include:
- To reduce the effort needed to read and understand source code
- To enable code reviews be able to focus on more important issues than arguing over syntax and naming standards.
- To enable code quality review tools be able to focus their reporting mainly on significant issues other than syntax and style preferences.
- To enhance source code appearance (for example, by disallowing overly long names or unclear abbreviations).
On the difficulty of naming things
There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things.
-- Phil Karlton
This quote (much-repeated-with-variations) may misquoted or mis-attributed. (See TwoHardThings by Martin Fowler.)
Wider usage
The term naming convention has a similar meaning in other fields.
See also
External links
- Naming convention (programming) @ Wikipedia
