Programming @programming.dev 𝕊𝕚𝕤𝕪𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕟 @programming.dev 1y ago

A quick tip for better variable names

Whenever you store a value that has a unit in a variable, config option or CLI switch, include the unit in the name. So:

maxRequestSize => maxRequestSizeBytes
elapsedTime => elapsedSeconds
cacheSize => cacheSizeMB
chargingTime => chargingTimeHours
fileSizeLimit => fileSizeLimitGB
temperatureThreshold => temperatureThresholdCelsius
diskSpace => diskSpaceTerabytes
flightAltitude => flightAltitudeFeet
monitorRefreshRate => monitorRefreshRateHz
serverResponseTimeout => serverResponseTimeoutMs
connectionSpeed => connectionSpeedMbps

EDIT: I know it’s better to use types to represent units. Please don’t write yet another comment about it. You can find my response to that point here: https://programming.dev/comment/219329

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33 comments

The better fix is to try to use types that represent those units or data types (e.g. duration instead of ms). Makes it harder to accidentally use the wrong units and documents the code / intent better.

33 comments