Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat” • Hacker News Board

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#21

Post by coldtea » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 7:29 PM UTC

>Don't name your variables after types: you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

I would if I could not tell just by looking at them what species they are (and thus what I can do with them, what to feed them, etc) among 200 other animals in my house.

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#22

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 7:56 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#23

Post by romwell » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 7:59 PM UTC

Eh, my friend's cat name is exactly that -- cat.

My cat has a name, but I just call him "cat" most of the time.

The point being - if the name is not ambiguous, it's fine.

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#24

Post by nonamenoslogan » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 8:02 PM UTC

I completely agree--having inherited a few applications worth of .NET code in which the last (younger, right out of college) developer named all the variables for things from Norse Mythologies.

I also inherited a bunch of circa-2005 ColdFusion with aptly named variables in CamelCase which are much easier to understand.

varUsersTableID > pointer*Freya any day of the week.

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#25

Post by eznoonze » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 8:05 PM UTC

myCat1 myDog2

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#26

Post by throwitaway6512 » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 8:37 PM UTC

My family had a cat called yellow cat... it was yellow.

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#27

Post by LorenPechtel » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 8:37 PM UTC

rbanffy wrote: post #2

I once had a cat named "dog".

Were I to get a cat (can't, my wife is afraid of them) I very well might name it "dog" or "doggy".

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#28

Post by mnorton » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 8:42 PM UTC

nonamenoslogan wrote: post #24

I completely agree--having inherited a few applications worth of .NET code in which the last (younger, right out of college) developer named all the variables for things from Norse Mythologies. I also inherited a bunch of circa-2005 ColdFusion with aptly named variables in CamelCase which are much easier to understand. varUsersTableID > pointer*Freya any day of the week.

> developer named all the variables for things from Norse Mythologies.

this is hilarious.

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#29

Post by codyb » Fri, Feb 08, 2019, 11:28 PM UTC

LorenPechtel wrote: post #27

rbanffy wrote: post #2

I once had a cat named "dog".

Were I to get a cat (can't, my wife is afraid of them) I very well might name it "dog" or "doggy".

"Reward for doggy" with a picture of your cat would be a great missing pet flyer

Re: Don't name your variables after types:you wouldn’t name your pets “dog” or “cat”

#30

Post by SomeHacker44 » Sat, Feb 09, 2019, 5:11 AM UTC

Odd. I could swear I just saw a movie with a boy and girl (human children) named, respectively, Boy and Girl.