Question

I am writing a library, so, I want its functions to be named as clearly and cleverly as possible. Currently, I use the following principles:

1. Self-explanatory names: a
   function getName() will tell the
   developer what it returns as well as
   setAddress(), isMale(), etc.
2. Short: a function name must be as
   short as possible so that it’s
   simple to type as well as easy to
   remember. A function
   getNumberOfPagesInTheBook() is not
   good, something like
   getBookPageCount() is better.
3. Use of prefixes: I always use
   prefixes in the functions such as
   getName(), setName(), hasHair(),
   isBlond(), etc.

I’m interested in knowing if there’s something I’m missing. Also, can you think of some other prefixes other than is, has, get and set?

Answer 1

One of the more universal, yet simple rules is: Function names should be verbs if the function changes the state of the program, and nouns if they’re used to return a certain value.