Question

I’m trying to come up with some clear and concise names for a Permission class that lets you check if a permission is, was, or will be, allowed/denied. I’m at a loss for what to call the future tense.

class Permission:
  def can_read()
  def could_read()
  def will_read()?
  def will_be_readable()?

I’m most partial to will_read(), but it sounds funny. will_be_readable() is clear, but its kinda long, and will_be_read() sounds misleading.

Answer 1

Yeah, English really has a problem here, with no future tense of “can”! What about switching to (say) readable_now, readable_past, readable_future? If past and future have specific meanings in your case better naming could be worked out here, I’m sure.