Notes-Naming Convention

CamelCase Convention

    • use the camelCase convention for every identifier name you create.
    • What is the camelCase convention?
      • the words are joined together -- no spaces between the words
      • each word after the first begins with an uppercase letter
      • Examples: isVisible, firstName, getFirstName, setFinalMark

Length of identifiers

    • should be short yet meaningful -- names should not be overly long
    • abbreviations should be avoided
    • all identifiers must start with a letter
    • avoid special characters -- use letters and numbers only

Naming Variables, Fields -- Attributes

    • begin with a lowercase letter
    • use camelCase convention, except with CONSTANTS
    • variable name should describe the data that they hold
    • one character names can be used for temporary throwaway variables. i,j,k,l for integers, c, d and e for characters

Constants

    • type in all uppercase letters
    • use the underscore to deliminate words. i.e. MAX_NUMBER
    • constants once set never change

Naming Methods, Procedures and Functions -- Actions

    • use a verb
    • use "set", "get" and "is" as a preface to method names to indicate the type of action performed on a specific attribute
    • method name should describe the action that the method will perform
    • start with a lower case letter, except the constructor method,
    • in Java, the constructor method starts with a upper case letter
    • in Java, a constructor method MUST have the same name as the class.

Naming Classes

    • begin with an uppercase letter
    • use nouns that are simple and descriptive
    • use the whole word, avoid abbreviation unless the abbreviation is commonly used min, max, URL

Naming GUI elements