Conventions/code/naming

I tend to use the following naming conventions within my code, more or less in keeping with the Apps variation of Hungarian notation.

Prefixes

Variable Prefixes

• f: floating-point number
• k or K: a constant, i.e. anything whose value should not (or cannot) change once defined
• n: a count (int; use f for float)
• o: object
  • or: a ref object (see Value Types)
  • os: a status object (see Value Types)
• s: string
  • sc: string that is the name of a class
  • sq or sql: string that is formatted as SQL, or safe to be used within SQL

see also General Affixes

Declaration Prefixes

• c: class
  • ca: abstract class (cannot be instantiated)
  • cs: static class (not intended to be instantiable; all methods static)
• ch: a string that is always a single character
• f: [DEPRECATED; use namespaces instead]: a Ferreteria class/trait/interface
• if: interface
• t: trait

see also General Affixes

General Affixes

In the prefix but not necessarily as the first characters:

• db: a database
• rc: a single-record class/object
• rs: a recordset class/object
• t: a table class/object

These may be used in declarations or variable names, but are generally used only for classes and objects. For classes, the c prefix comes first; for objects, these replace the o prefix, and sometimes may be the entire name of the variable.

Value Types

• cell means access to a value in a named location (e.g. an array element)
• ref means a reference-container object (cReference)
• slug means a string which can unambiguously represent any expected value or state of a given item
  • needed for representing record IDs in URLs, where one possible state is "new" (no ID yet)
• status means a presence-info object
  • preferably descended from cThingHolder
• unit means something that knows its own name and has awareness of its container-object/structure
  • preferably a PortRow Unit object
• value means a read-only value, assumed to exist (throws error if not)

Namespace Aliases

When creating an alias for a namespace, I use a single capital letter as shorthand for parent-folders of the current namespace -- not for folders outside of it.

Example: In namespace ferret\data\bank, I might use D as an alias for ferret\data (use ferret\data as D;), but I would not use that alias in namespace ferret\globals. I would, however, use F as an alias for namespace ferret in both of them.