Why Naming Variables Can Distinguish a Good Programmer from a Bad One
While analyzing some old code from a previous project, I stumbled upon variable names that left me scratching my head. Here’s a snippet of what I found:
At first glance, these names seemed cryptic at best. After 25 minutes of piecing together the context (aided by poorly written comments), I finally understood what they meant.
What’s wrong here? To me, it seems the original developer rushed through the implementation, disregarding the importance of meaningful variable names. Instead, they left behind a confusing mess for anyone working on the code later.
These changes transform the code into something far more understandable. It reflects a clear understanding of the task at hand, good communication of intent.
Great variable names make it possible to read code almost like a narrative, reducing the need for excessive comments and helping others — and your future self — understand what’s going on.
These names require a reader to remember the comments or consult documentation to understand what’s going on. With clearer names, this confusion disappears:
