Code Smell 33 - Abbreviations
Abbreviating is very important so that we look smart and save memory and mind space.
2 December, 2022
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Contributors
Abbreviating is very important so that we look smart and save memory and mind space.
Problems
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Coupling
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Bad Naming
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Declarativeness
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Ambiguity
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Readability
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Premature Optimization
Solutions
1.
Use meaningful/declarative names.
Examples
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Variable naming
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Function naming
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Package naming
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Class Naming
Sample Code
Wrong
Right
Detection
We can't automate choosing what is a short name and a declarative.
Some "modern" and shinny languages enforce this bad practice. So we should wisely choose a good language instead.
Tags
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Declarative
Conclusion
Computer science was born from the mother of science (mathematics). In math, the assignment of single letter variables (i, j, x, y) is a good practice.
The concept of reference arose from the variable.
Many people wondered why mathematicians can work with such short variables, and computer scientists cannot.
For mathematicians, once entered into a formula, variables lose all semantics and become indistinguishable.
We need to care more about semantics and reading.
Our brain wastes a lot of energy figuring out what is the meaning of an abbreviation.
Sometimes we even mistake them
/usr stands for universal system resources not user
/dev stands for device not development.
It is 2020, We need to write software for humans, not for compilers.
Relations
More Info
Credits
Photo by Jessica Knowlden on Unsplash
A long descriptive name is better than a short enigmatic name. A long descriptive name is better than a long descriptive comment.
Robert Martin
This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.