A quick tip for better variable names (programming.dev)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Whenever you store a value that has a unit in a variable, config option or CLI switch, include the unit in the name. So:

maxRequestSize => maxRequestSizeBytes
elapsedTime => elapsedSeconds
cacheSize => cacheSizeMB
chargingTime => chargingTimeHours
fileSizeLimit => fileSizeLimitGB
temperatureThreshold => temperatureThresholdCelsius
diskSpace => diskSpaceTerabytes
flightAltitude => flightAltitudeFeet
monitorRefreshRate => monitorRefreshRateHz
serverResponseTimeout => serverResponseTimeoutMs
connectionSpeed => connectionSpeedMbps

EDIT: I know it’s better to use types to represent units. Please don’t write yet another comment about it. You can find my response to that point here: https://programming.dev/comment/219329

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[-] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago

Variables, meh. As long as the code is clear, I don't mind too much about naming. For config options? Absolutely.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

I disagree. Every time I see duration: Long in code I want to find whoever wrote that and bash them on the head because what the fact this Long is? If unit is not immediately obvious in some way in current context (not necessarily as variable name), your code is not clear, period.

this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2023

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