From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,2078dddcdcd8d83 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: wemagor@sym1.cca.rockwell.com (Wayne Magor) Subject: Re: Warning: Religious naming convention discussion :-) [was: assign help!!] Date: 1997/05/16 Message-ID: <5li577$ur4@castor.cca.rockwell.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 242854002 Distribution: world References: <5kjvcv$evt@news.cis.nctu.edu.tw> <5kn8ko$jcc@top.mitre.org> <1997May7.201035.2439@nosc.mil> <33727EEA.2092@sprintmail.com> <5kuf1j$17vi@uni.library.ucla.edu> <3373666A.31DFF4F5@spam.innocon.com> <3373EAB5.73A0@sprintmail.com> <87C44AD748359DF0.5E24E5EEBAEC0D8B.B6219AA25FB36D5D@library-proxy.airnews.net> Organization: Rockwell Collins - Avionics Reply-To: No@Junk.Mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1997-05-16T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: clines@delete_this.airmail.net (Kevin Cline) writes: > >dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar) wrote: >> >>I know that some coders and some coding standards are allergic to >>abbreviations, but I don't mind short identifiers and abbreviations if >>they have a small local scope. > >I think this is an important point. For identifiers that have small scope, >almost any name will do if it has some mnemonic value. Because I don't like >to even remember which abbreviation was chosen, I use single letter variable >names for temporaries in small functions whenever possible. Good point. It is a matter of degree and scope. Single letter variable names are very appropriate in certain contexts. For example, I use them extensively as FOR loop variables, since it usually has no meaning other than to count which iteration we are on. Using long names too often can actually make code *harder* to read. We are already deluged with so many concepts, classes, and structures that we don't need to clutter things by naming unimportant items. The reader's attention should be focused on what is important. Those are what deserve good (possibly long) names.