Re: Distinguishing type names from other identifiers

[dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)]

tmoran says

<<Not a "small" advantage at all!  Maintenance programmers should be
able to read the code fast and without being led into
misunderstanding.  A consistent pattern like "_Type" or "_T" or
plural or whatever aids this (though the example of English shows
that the human brain can deal with a limited amount of irregularity
and pure memorization, like "Integer" as a type name).  Then he
should be able to write new code quickly and correctly, without have
to look up hard-to-remember spellings and with a very low
probability that he guessed wrong.
>>


THis is one of those arguments which goes like this

I support the idea of doing X

This is because X promotes readability

Readability is good because (long string of mother and applie pie
stuff, constituting the bulk of the argument).

Yes, yes, we all agree with step 3, but however much we agree with step
3 does not encourage us to accept your belief in step 2 without arguments.
Your argument boils down to

I think that using _Type makes things more readable for a maintenance
programmer.

But many others (including most certainly me) think that using useless
noise suffixes like this *compromises* readability, and can be a detriment
to maintenance programmers.

Experience shows again and again that the GNAT code is very easy for a
new programmer to learn. We have lots of experiences now of people plunging
into this code and very quickly getting to the point where they can make
subtle changes successfully.

The GNAT code does not use this kind of suffixing routinely, though it 
uses it occasionally where it seems useful. Once again, there is a real
danger in either mandating such usage all the time or in forbidding it.

This does not prove that it is a good idea not to use the suffix all the
time, but it is one data point (I am sure other readers can supply lots
of others) that shows that the claim that if you *don't* do this, your
code will be unreadable and unmaintainable is bogus!

So without more facts, this comes down to a matter of taste, about which it
is a bit of a waste of time to argue!