Naming is Hard: Let's Do Better
summary
Argument is that good names are a learned skill that reduce bugs and force better design; concrete heuristics include use verbs for functions and nouns for classes, partial_sort_copy vs top_n as a real-world naming mismatch, prefer set_status → approve/deny to reveal side effects, avoid overloaded metaphors like empty ambiguity, keep user terminology consistent, use scoped enums and meaningful template parameter names, refactor with temporary nonsense names then rename, and run automated refactors so legacy renames propagate safely.
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chapters (21)
- 0:00Start
- 1:32NAMING THINGS
- 3:01NOT NAMING CONVENTIONS
- 3:38NAMES CARRY MEANING
- 5:15IT MATTERS EVERYWHERE
- 7:02NAMES TELL A STORY
- 10:53NAMING IS HARD
- 14:55AN STORY
- 20:29USER NOMENCLATURE
- 24:11DON'T INVENT BUSINESS WORDS
- 29:03METAPHORS AREN'T UNIVERSAL
- 32:01VERBS HELP FUNCTIONS
- 34:16ORDER MATTERS
- 35:14TOOLS MATTER
- 36:35PARAMETERS
- 39:24CLASSES ARE NOUNS
- 43:54MEMBERS
- 46:30TRADITIONAL MEMBER FUNCTION NAMES
- 50:42RARELY, SHORTER IS BETTER
- 53:12MOST OF THE TIME, LONGER IS BETTER
- 56:15ABBR
