On Jul 4, 2013, at 12:52 , Torsten Bergmann wrote: > Usually I thought only the C/C++ people fell in love with abbreviations - but > now its our own community: > > in Pharo 3.0 one can write: > > Smalltalk os env > > or would it be better to use: > > Smalltalk operatingSystem environment > > in the future? > > So is the current > > Smalltalk vm > > better than > > Smalltalk virtualMachine > > I know: even a newcomer should know what "OS" means. At least > Smalltalkers/Java people should > know they need a "VM". But nonetheless I think a common goal would be to keep > Pharo code and method selectors readable and avoid abbreviations when > possible. > > Also there are Pharo methods like #getEnv: instead of > #getEnvironmentVariable: > (interesting that they wrap the native C/C++ API "GetEnvironmentVariableA" > which does not use abbreviations) > > Should we care (with an issue) and use the more readable forms in > the future and deprecated the abbreviation forms? > > Or will we keep abbreviations for the lazy and easier typing? > > If you comment please think about the goal to get readable code, the goal to > get more newcomers into programming and your own first steps with Smalltalk > and IT ...
My 2c: Acronyms work fine, also in method names. (os, vm) As a basic rule require to spell out ante meridiem, light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, radio detection and ranging, compact disk, and their likes, seems a bit … zealous. Simple abbreviations, like env, rather than using the full word, I have much less empathy for. Cheers, Henry
