Code Smell 33 — Abbreviations
Abbreviating is very important so that we look smart and save memory and mind space
Problems
- Coupling
- Bad Naming
- Declarativeness
- Ambiguity
- Readability
- Premature Optimization
Solutions
- Use meaningful and declarative names.
Examples
- Variable naming
- Function naming
- Package naming
- Class Naming
Sample Code
Wrong
Right
Detection
We can’t automate choosing what is a short name and a declarative.
Some “modern” and shinny languages enforce this bad practice. So we should wisely choose a good language instead.
Tags
- Declarative
Conclusion
Computer science was born from the mother of science (mathematics). In math, the assignment of single letter variables (i, j, x, y) is a good practice.
The concept of reference arose from the variable.
Many people wondered why mathematicians can work with such short variables, and computer scientists cannot.
For mathematicians, once entered into a formula, variables lose all semantics and become indistinguishable.
Our brain wastes a lot of energy figuring out what is the meaning of an abbreviation.
It is 2020, We need to write software for humans, not for compilers.
Relations
More info
A long descriptive name is better than a short enigmatic name. A long descriptive name is better than a long descriptive comment.
Robert Martin
This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.
