On 12/14/05, Michael Chermside <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Guido writes: > > Actually this (function, method and ivar names) is such a contentious > > issue that I think the style guide should explicitly allow all > > two/three styles and recommend to be consistent within a class, module > > or package. > > Hurray! Now I can go back to using capWords for functions, methods, and > variables! > > Guido writes: > > Too late. I don't think the diversity is all that distracting. > > I disagree. One of the things that Java got very much right was to > specify, from the very beginning, what the preferred conventions are > for naming conventions. (Packages in lowercase, Classes in CapWords, > methods and variables in lowerCapWords, constants optionally in > ALL_CAPS. Abbrevs avoided, acronyms have all letters capitalized, eg: > SimpleHTTPServer.) > > The conventions are nearly universally followed, and as a result in > java I always know how to spell things. I never have to remember > whether it's myDict.hasKey() and myDict.popitem() or myDict.has_key() > and myDict.popItem(). Haskell goes too far -- they REQUIRE a certain > convention as part of the language... this prevents breaking the rules > on purpose (eg: wrapping a library from another language, or using > an object with attributes to represent an XML node with child nodes).
I agree completely with this. I might remember the name of a method, but I don't always remember the capping and the possible use of underscores. Consistency would be really nice. I am not saying we should rename everything (at least not until Python 3 =), but at least we can make sure new stuff that is not preexisting can use a consistent naming scheme. And as for it being contentious, I say Guido can pronounce on this. We are all grown-ups and can learn to name things in a certain way to give our memories an easier time. =) -Brett _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
