[llvm-dev] changing variable naming rules in LLVM codebase

[Chandler Carruth via llvm-dev]

On Wed, Feb 13, 2019 at 6:52 AM <paul.robinson at sony.com> wrote:

> Chandler wrote:
>
> > FWIW, I'm pretty strongly opposed to humbleCamelCase. We already use that
> > style so something else.
>
> Presumably you are equally opposed to RegularCamelCase, because we already
> use *that* style for something else.
>

I would be opposed to going through the very significant cost of *changing*
the naming convention, merely to end up there.

The convention we already use has a huge advantage of already being
relatively consistent.


>
> But really, objecting on the grounds that a given style is already used for
> function names is really a very weak argument.  IME function names are
> *incredibly* *hard* to confuse with anything else, because they *always*
> have
> surrounding syntactic context. Given `TheStuff->fooBar().getThingy()` is it
> even conceivable that you might not instantly get that fooBar and getThingy
> are methods?  Therefore, using the same convention for some other kind of
> name is Not Confusing.
>

I disagree FWIW... Lambdas (and callables generally) at the least make this
ambiguous.

I think the fact that named things are called does not fully disambiguate
what they are.

I'm not trying to say that the collision with functions is *as* confusing
as that of colliding with types. Merely that both seem confusing. And I
find `foo_bar_baz` and `fooBarBaz` basically equivalent[1]. So between
those equivalents, I would choose the one with fewer collisions.

[1]: Ok, not quite, but I find this to be a more personal preference and am
trying to weight it lower as a consequence. I find functions much more
similar to types -- they are manifest properties of the program. I find
`FooBarBaz` and `fooBarBaz` to be very similar looking. There is *a*
distinction, but it is a minor one. I would prefer a greater visual
difference for variables, which `foo_bar_baz` provides.

OTOH, `TheStuff` comes out of nowhere with no clues to its origin, and
> *that*
> is a barrier to code-reading IME.  Even renaming it to `stuff` would help
> approximately zero percent. Parameter? Local? Class member? Global?  LLVM
> has
> incredibly few globals for other reasons, but using the same convention
> for
> locals and class members is a real problem for code-reading, especially
> code
> operating in methods for classes you're not super familiar with.
>
> I acknowledge that the current RFC doesn't propose a member naming
> convention
> different from other variables, but IMO it really ought to.  *That* is the
> distinction that would really help in reading unfamiliar code.
>

I could see a lot of utility of this, but I do find it to be orthogonal.


> --paulr
>
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