Naming conventions

• Names representing types must be in mixed case, starting with upper case.

Example:

 

Line, SavingsAccount

Reason:

Common practice in the C++ development community.

• Variable names must be in mixed case starting with lower case.

Example:

 

line, savingsAccount

Reason:

Common practice in the C++ development community.

• Named constants (including enumeration values) must be all uppercase using underscore to separate words.

Example:

 

MAX_ITERATIONS, COLOR_RED, PI

Reason:

Common practice in the C++ development community

• Names representing methods or functions must be verbs and written in mixed case starting with lower case.

Example:

 

getName(), computeTotalWidth()

Reason:

Common practice in the C++ development community.

• Names representing namespaces should be all lowercase.

Example:

 

analyzer, iomanager, mainwindow

Reason:

Common practice in the C++ development community.

• Names representing template types should be a single uppercase letter.

Example:

 

template<class T> ... template<class C, class D> ... 

Reason:

Common practice in the C++ development community.

• All names should be written in english.

Example:

 

fileName; // NOT: filNavn 

Reason:

English is the prefered language for international development.

• Abbreviations and acronyms must not be uppercase when used as name

Example:

 

exportHtmlSource(); // NOT: exportHTMLSource();

Reason:

When the name is connected to another, the readbility is seriously reduced; the word following the abbreviation does not stand out as it should.

• Global variables should always be referred to using the :: operator.

Example:

 

::mainWindow.open(), ::applicationContext.getName()

Reason:

For doing global variables separated from other.

• Private class variables should have underscore suffix.

Example:

 

class SomeClass {

 private: 

  int length_;

 public:

};

Reason:

This is important because class variables are considered to have higher significance than method variables, and should be treated with special care by the programmer.

• Variables with a large scope should have long names, variables with a small scope can have short names

Example:

 

i, j, k, ::objectForAllProject;

Reason:

Scratch variables used for temporary storage or indices are best kept short

• The name of the object is implicit, and should be avoided in a method name.

Example:

 

line.getLength(); // NOT: line.getLineLength();

Reason:

The latter seems natural in the class declaration, but proves superfluous in use, as shown in the example.