Conventions for naming class operations?

Question

What conventions do you use for naming class operations?

Answer 1

Full word doc : Download C# Coding Standards & Best Practices

Naming Conventions and Standards

Note : The terms Pascal Casing and Camel Casing are used throughout this document. Pascal Casing - First character of all words are Upper Case and other characters are lower case. Example: BackColor Camel Casing - First character of all words, except the first word are Upper Case and other characters are lower case. Example: backColor

1. Use Pascal casing for Class names

   public class HelloWorld { ... }

2. Use Pascal casing for Method names

   void SayHello(string name) { ... }

3. Use Camel casing for variables and method parameters

   int totalCount = 0; void SayHello(string name) { string fullMessage = "Hello " + name; ... }

4. Use the prefix “I” with Camel Casing for interfaces ( Example: IEntity )

5. Do not use Hungarian notation to name variables.

In earlier days most of the programmers liked it - having the data type as a prefix for the variable name and using m_ as prefix for member variables. Eg:

string m_sName; int nAge;

However, in .NET coding standards, this is not recommended. Usage of data type and m_ to represent member variables should not be used. All variables should use camel casing.

Some programmers still prefer to use the prefix m_ to represent member variables, since there is no other easy way to identify a member variable.

1. Use Meaningful, descriptive words to name variables. Do not use abbreviations.

Good:

string address
int salary 

Not Good:

string nam
string addr
int sal 

1. Do not use single character variable names like i, n, s etc. Use names like index, temp

One exception in this case would be variables used for iterations in loops:

for ( int i = 0; i < count; i++ )
{
 ...
}

If the variable is used only as a counter for iteration and is not used anywhere else in the loop, many people still like to use a single char variable (i) instead of inventing a different suitable name.

1. Do not use underscores (_) for local variable names.

2. All member variables must be prefixed with underscore (_) so that they can be identified from other local variables.

3. Do not use variable names that resemble keywords.

4. Prefix boolean variables, properties and methods with “is” or similar prefixes.

Ex: private bool _isFinished

1. Namespace names should follow the standard pattern

...

1. Use appropriate prefix for the UI elements so that you can identify them from the rest of the variables.

There are 2 different approaches recommended here.

a. Use a common prefix ( ui_ ) for all UI elements. This will help you group all of the UI elements together and easy to access all of them from the intellisense.

b. Use appropriate prefix for each of the ui element. A brief list is given below. Since .NET has given several controls, you may have to arrive at a complete list of standard prefixes for each of the controls (including third party controls) you are using.

Control Prefix
Label lbl
TextBox txt
DataGrid dtg
Button btn
ImageButton imb
Hyperlink hlk
DropDownList ddl
ListBox lst
DataList dtl
Repeater rep
Checkbox chk
CheckBoxList cbl
RadioButton rdo
RadioButtonList rbl
Image img
Panel pnl
PlaceHolder phd
Table tbl
Validators val

1. File name should match with class name.

For example, for the class HelloWorld, the file name should be helloworld.cs (or, helloworld.vb)

1. Use Pascal Case for file names.

2. Indentation and Spacing

3. Use TAB for indentation. Do not use SPACES. Define the Tab size as 4.

4. Comments should be in the same level as the code (use the same level of indentation).

Good:

// Format a message and display

string fullMessage = "Hello " + name;
DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;
string message = fullMessage + ", the time is : " + currentTime.ToShortTimeString();
MessageBox.Show ( message );

Not Good:

// Format a message and display
string fullMessage = "Hello " + name;
DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;
string message = fullMessage + ", the time is : " + currentTime.ToShortTimeString();
MessageBox.Show ( message );

1. Curly braces ( {} ) should be in the same level as the code outside the braces.

2. Use one blank line to separate logical groups of code.

Good:

 bool SayHello ( string name )
 {
  string fullMessage = "Hello " + name;
  DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;

  string message = fullMessage + ", the time is : " + currentTime.ToShortTimeString();

  MessageBox.Show ( message );

  if ( ... )
  {
   // Do something
   // ...

   return false;
  }

  return true;
 }

Not Good:

bool SayHello (string name)
 {
  string fullMessage = "Hello " + name;
  DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;
  string message = fullMessage + ", the time is : " + currentTime.ToShortTimeString();
  MessageBox.Show ( message );
  if ( ... )
  {
   // Do something
   // ...
   return false;
  }
  return true;
 }

1. There should be one and only one single blank line between each method inside the class.

2. The curly braces should be on a separate line and not in the same line as if, for etc.

Good:

if ( ... ) 
  {
   // Do something
  }

Not Good:

if ( ... ) {
   // Do something
  }

1. Use a single space before and after each operator and brackets.

Good:

if ( showResult == true )
  {
   for ( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ )
   {
    //
   }
  }

Not Good:

if(showResult==true)
  {
   for(int    i= 0;i<10;i++)
   {
    //
   }
  }

1. Use #region to group related pieces of code together. If you use proper grouping using #region, the page should like this when all definitions are collapsed.

2. Keep private member variables, properties and methods in the top of the file and public members in the bottom.

Answer 2

I find it makes everyone's life easier to use the same naming conventions used by the language and framework you are working in.

For example, .Net has a convention. Model what your language does, and the "users" of your code and libraries will be happier. So, the answer may be, it depends on your language and / or platform...

Answer 3

Naming conventions are a controversial topic, because it's an arbitrary distinction.

The two answers above are good ones. My addition is this:

Your goal is readability. Your code tells a story, albeit a sometimes kind of boring one. Make sure the story is clear.

For extra fun see these links:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Wrong.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_convention_%28programming%29