>>>>> "RD" == Rob Dixon <rob.di...@gmx.com> writes:
RD> On 14/09/2011 16:51, Uri Guttman wrote: >>>>>>> "PJ" == Paul Johnson<p...@pjcj.net> writes: >> PJ> On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 11:34:34PM -0400, Uri Guttman wrote: >> >> here is another good reason to stay aways from single letter var >> >> names. they are hard to search for as other vars which start with those >> >> letters will also be found. >> PJ> This may be the worst argument I have ever heard against using PJ> single letter variable names. Please don't let your code be held PJ> hostage to the tools you are using, especially if there are better PJ> tools available. >> >> show me a tool that can search for single letter names cleanly and with >> little effort as compared to longer names. also this isn't the only >> reason, just one of several. >> PJ> My own take on variable names is that naming is one of the hardest PJ> problems in software development, and that the length of a PJ> variable name should reflect the length of the scope in which it PJ> is visible. A single letter variable name is fine in a small PJ> loop, for example. A larger scope would call for a PJ> correspondingly larger variable name. >> PJ> And as with other names, a single letter variable name should PJ> reflect its purpose as much as possible, to further aid our PJ> understanding; $q for a queue, $c for a customer, $n for a count PJ> and so forth. The problems start to occur when we have a customer PJ> and a context, for example, and at that point having a variable PJ> named $c is more if a hindrance than a help. That's when you PJ> would want $cust and $cxt, or $customer and $context depending on PJ> the size of their scope. >> >> and $q or $c is still a poor name even in a tight scope. it tells >> nothing to the reader about the content of the variable. it is just a >> placeholder for the author. you might as well just use $_ everywhere you >> can. names need to convey information about variable usage. single >> letter ones have very little information. RD> Uri we are all privileged with your thoughts on variable naming. My last RD> attempt to say that perhaps you weren't always right wrong resulted in a RD> personal attack saying "you had that blowup a few months ago. are you RD> doing that again?" Given that you choose not even to punctuate American RD> English properly I find your position less than convincing. again, you attack personally and not about the topic. RD> Also, as I posted before, if you forbid even the very minimum of $i, $n, RD> $x, $y, $z, $h, $m, $s then your advice is destructive bigotry. i said $i and $j are generally fine. in some cases maybe $x and $y. but those are not nearly as many vars as all the others. the vast majority of vars should not be named with single letter names. it is a rule with some exceptions. i prefer to emphasize the rule here in order for newbies to learn that picking good names is important. and single letter var names are in general a poor choice. RD> Please cease. nah, you first! :) uri -- Uri Guttman -- uri AT perlhunter DOT com --- http://www.perlhunter.com -- ------------ Perl Developer Recruiting and Placement Services ------------- ----- Perl Code Review, Architecture, Development, Training, Support ------- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: beginners-unsubscr...@perl.org For additional commands, e-mail: beginners-h...@perl.org http://learn.perl.org/
