Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks
No such thing as a small change
 
PerlMonks  

comment on

( [id://3333]=superdoc: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??
if you can't figure out a good function name, look for a design problem.

That seems like sound advice. (Heck, any reason to look for a design problem is a good one.) Even though it makes a good rule of thumb, like most advice, it could be hazardous if followed in every instance. Sometimes an awkward function is the right one. Code is not natural language afterall. Consider that, if you allow your spoken language to have too great an influence on how you code, you may be artificially limiting your design choices right from the start.

I think it is best when code approximates a written description. It needn't actually read like one. Frankly, your use of "_are_the_" in a subroutine name makes me cringe. Why? Because words of that nature could crop up in lots of subroutine names and when that happens your eye has to work harder to differentiate them.

Instead of tokens_are_the_same(), I would be inclined to use something like tokens_same(). I might call it tokens_equal() or tokens_equivalent() depending on what it actually did. (I think 'same' indicates that two references refer to the same memory, 'equal' indicates that the values are the same, and 'equivalent' indicates that two values have the same type. For instance, two STRING tokens might be equivalent but not necessarily equal or the same.) In general, I think good subroutine names are as short and dense with meaning as possible without being cryptic.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

In reply to Re: $bad_names eq $bad_design by sauoq
in thread $bad_names eq $bad_design by Ovid

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post; it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":



  • Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:
    <code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>
  • Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
  • Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.
Log In?
Username:
Password:

What's my password?
Create A New User
Domain Nodelet?
Chatterbox?
and the web crawler heard nothing...

How do I use this?Last hourOther CB clients
Other Users?
Others surveying the Monastery: (7)
As of 2024-03-28 08:26 GMT
Sections?
Information?
Find Nodes?
Leftovers?
    Voting Booth?

    No recent polls found