textBoxEmployeeName vs employeeNameTextBox

Question

Which naming convention do you use and why?

I like to use employeeNameTextBox, because:

• It seems more natural from an English language perspective.
• I find it's easier to look up with Intellisense.
• The convention is similar to the convention used for events (MouseClickEvent, MouseClickEventHandler) and dependency properties (VisiblityProperty).

Note: I am using the full name rather than an abbreviation (such as "tb"), because it is in line with MS's naming conventions that say to avoid using abbreviations.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229045.aspx

Answer 1

In VB I actually like to go with [ControlName]_[ControlType]. I can't remember how I started doing that but I suppose it's because it feels like a logical order. It also simplifies coding a bit because the code suggestions are grouped by the control description rather than the control type.

I name controls the same way in C# except I follow C#'s preference for camelCase: [controlName]_[controlType].

I also tend to use my own abbreviations for control types, though they are not vague.

Examples:

VB: Save_Btn and NewFile_MItem (menu item)

C#: save_btn and newFile_mItem

It works for me, but of course every programmer has their style.

Answer 2

As I read it, an article linked to in the article mentioned in the question (namely, Names of Resources) does use the control type at the end, in FileMenu (and ArgumentException though it's not a control).

My personal opinion is that this is also more readable, as it's the employee name text box and hence should be named the employeeNameTextBox, just like the words "File menu" are read in that order. (Though I substitute "Edit" for "TextBox" for brevity — I should probably kick that habit to use control names consistently with the environment name for them.)

Answer 3

I don't recommend hungarian notation in any form. textBoxEmployeeName is a form of hungarian notation. So I support the use of employeeNameTextBox.

Personally I don't even bother using the word TextBox, because it is not what is important about the variable. What is important is "Employee" and "Name". Not only does adding the word TextBox lock you in to a certain type, it also make it much harder to change that type, because you need to change the name to normalize your code and make it correct. Say for some reason you started this as a TextBox, but you later received a requirement to change this to a DropDownList or some other type, now you have to update all of your code and JavaScript to make it say DropDownList instead of TextBox.

It is much easier to forget about trying to type your variable names, and just simply name them. You have intellisense and compile time error checking for a reason, why not use it.

Answer 4

Ideas:

1. Avoid encodings/abbreviations.

2. The name should stand out from similar names in the same scope. Make the unique-most part the left-most part. I suspect you have several text boxes, but only one is the employee name.

3. Avoid needless context. Are all the names on this page about employees? Is it an "employee" page? Then EmployeeName is redundant. NameBox or NameControl should be plenty.

4. Avoid needless context: do you have names that are not controls? If so, "Box", or "Control" is useful, otherwise not so much.

Disclosure: I am the "ottinger" from "ottingers naming rules", which also evolved to be chapter 2 of "Clean Code". See short form at http://agileinaflash.blogspot.com/2009/02/meaningful-names.html