Re: Suffix _T for types found good

[Gary Scott <garylscott@sbcglobal.net>]

Stephen Leake wrote:
> "Steve" <nospam_steved94@comcast.net> writes:
> 
> 
>>>"Martin" <martin.dowie@btopenworld.com> wrote in message 
>>>news:efded36d-c0f1-45f9-b1ac->f3575f642ad7@w7g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>[snip]
>>
>>>I've used (and mandated) the "A_"/"An_" prefixes on a few projects and
>>>it does work quite well and read fine.
>>>
>>>I'll put my hand up and admit I _hate_ the noise of "_Type" - it
>>>really ought to be clear and unambiguous from language rules but
>>>isn't. :-(
>>
>>Actually I think it is clear from the language rules, but...
> 
> 
> Huh? The problem is that the language rules forbid this:
> 
> Buffer : Buffer;
> 
> That is what we would _like_ the language to allow.

what?  that looks completely ambiguous in terms of readability.  you 
must know some arcane rule to interpret it.

> 
> 
>>When reading source code it is often important to be able to scan through 
>>code quickly and comprehend the meaning.  Coding conventions can make it 
>>quicker to recognize things in without reading the text.
> 
> 
> So can clear language rules! If we assume that the reader _fully_
> understands the language, extra noise like "_Type" or "A_" just get in
> the way.
> 
> Fortunately, the human mind/brain is good at filtering out such noise,
> as long as it is present consistently.
> 
> If we try to right Ada code so someone who understands only some
> C-like language can read it, then coding conventions might help. I
> avoid doing that; one of my goals is to stamp out C coding :).
> 
> 
>>For example indenting code uniformly makes it easier to follow.  
> 
> 
> That's true, independent of language rules.
> 


-- 

Gary Scott
mailto:garylscott@sbcglobal dot net

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