From: Brian Rogoff <bpr@shell5.ba.best.com>
Subject: Re: Two simple language questions (plural types)
Date: 1998/01/12
Date: 1998-01-12T00:00:00+00:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980112100135.11999C-100000@shell5.ba.best.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 199801121523.QAA06527@basement.replay.com
On Mon, 12 Jan 1998, Anonymous wrote:
> However, this is a lot of objective evidence that shows that common
> prefixes are bad. The first few characters of names are the most
> important in telling names apart; if all variable names in a program
> start with a common prefix ("The_"), then it is harder to tell the
> variables apart. This is not opinion; it is fact.
You saying it doesn't make it so. At least provide a reference for this
assertion.
> The origin of "The_" for all parameters seems to come from books by
> someone who could not come up with good type names, and so used the
> preferred form for the parameter name for the type name, leaving nothing
> good for the parameter name. (I don't have any of the books available,
> so I can't be sure about variable names.) Those who advocate plurals for
> type names are generally also unable to create good type names, but they
> at least want to keep the best form for parameters/variables.
>
> I also object to the use of suffixes that add no information to the name
> ("_Type", "_T"); this is just another kludge by those who cannot create
> good type names.
I find it amazing that you can divine someone's competence in coming up
with type names based on whether or not they use the same style you do!
You are also obviously wrong, the _Type adds the information that the
lexical entity is a type. "Integer" or "List" could just as easily be a
variable name as a type name (well, Integer is taken...) so adding some
bit of information to distinguish them doesn't seem that bad to me. Some
languages (Dylan, EuLisp) use lexical conventions to distinguish type
names, so Integer and Tree would be <integer> and <tree>. FWIW, I think
Norman Cohen's book uses and _<blah> convention frequently in its
examples.
-- Brian
next prev parent reply other threads:[~1998-01-12 0:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 39+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1998-01-07 0:00 Two simple language questions Chip Richards
1998-01-07 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1998-01-07 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-10 0:00 ` Two simple language questions (plural types) Michael F Brenner
1998-01-10 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1998-01-10 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-10 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1998-01-12 0:00 ` Anonymous
1998-01-12 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-12 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1998-01-13 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1998-01-13 0:00 ` Distinguishing type names from other identifiers Nick Roberts
1998-01-13 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-14 0:00 ` Stephen Leake
1998-01-24 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-15 0:00 ` Anonymous
1998-01-24 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-24 0:00 ` Martin M Dowie
1998-01-24 0:00 ` Martin M Dowie
1998-01-24 0:00 ` Pred Nick Roberts
1998-01-25 0:00 ` Distinguishing type names from other identifiers Matthew Heaney
1998-01-15 0:00 ` Aaro Koskinen
1998-01-17 0:00 ` Martin M Dowie
1998-01-17 0:00 ` Martin M Dowie
1998-01-25 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-25 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
[not found] ` <n5rs5FAStOz0Ew2+@dowie-cs.demon.co.uk>
1998-01-26 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1998-01-27 0:00 ` Martin M Dowie
1998-01-27 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1998-01-27 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-28 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1998-01-28 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1998-01-29 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1998-01-30 0:00 ` Mats Weber
1998-01-28 0:00 ` Martin M Dowie
1998-01-12 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff [this message]
1998-01-11 0:00 ` Two simple language questions (plural types) Brian Rogoff
1998-01-07 0:00 ` Two simple language questions Tucker Taft
1998-01-07 0:00 ` Dale Stanbrough
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