I'm searching for an alternative name for a method which create a resource when the one is not exist. Previously I used long names like "createAddressWhenNotExist" or "createAccountIfNotExist".
What do you think about "ensureAddress" or "ensureAccount"? If you find this name in code will you understand it?
I think the naming method/ function is not fully represent the actual process.
You must declare the function description in that function with comment.
And I think createAddrIfNotExist or createAccountIfNotExist are the good names.
Related
Let's say I have a type of object in my game called oCharacter. All characters must have names, so I want to provide one when I construct the object. I can do that by using the _variables argument of instance_create_layer:
instance_create_layer(0, 0, "Instances", oCharacter, { name: "George" });
I could even make sure that I don't forget to do this by making a "constructor" function for characters and only instantiating them using that:
function character_create(_x, _y, _name) {
return instance_create_layer(_x, _y, "Instances", oCharacter, { name: _name });
}
But this approach has two problems.
The first is that I or another developer might forget about this convention and instantiate a character directly using instance_create_layer, forgetting to pass a name and setting up a runtime error further down the road.
The second (related) issue is that Feather doesn't know about this convention, so my Feather window is full of error messages about references to instance variables that aren't declared in the Create event - but I don't see how I can declare these variables in the Create event, as I'm expecting their value to be provided by the creator.
Is there some way of doing this that addresses these issues?
The first problem is just about setting rules about the code conventions within your team, if your team does not know about these conventions you want them to follow, then you should tell it them in a meeting.
For the second problem: Maybe you could create an empty/nullable variable in the Create Event? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Feather
Personally I would do two things for this.
Create development standards for the team and put them in something like a Word document, wiki page, onenote, whatever makes the most sense for your team.
I would use a function to create the instance of the object (like you're doing there), and have some simple validation checks inside of the create event itself that will cancel it's creation (something like a guard clause) and output a debug message with a reminder.
It's not the most elegant solution but that should do the trick (assuming you haven't found something else by now haha)
what's the naming convention for a function that searches an entity by 4 parameters?
for instance GetCarByColourBrandStyleAndType sounds way too long although is descriptive enought IMO
Can't you just use SearchForCar for instance?
The paramaters (I expect are type, brand, color...) should give clarification? You can always make one or more parameters optional when you have for example another function saying GetCarByBrandColor()
I have a function that decorates a string. If the decorated string is again fed to the function, it is guaranteed not to change. How is the standard naming convention for such a function? I'll probably create a namespace because I need to have a few of those functions.
I've come up with:
repetition_safe.decorate(me);
fixpoint_gen.decorate(me);
one_time_effect.decorate(me);
but I don't really like any of these.
How would you name the namespace or function?
How about:
StringDecorator.MakeImmutable(input);
I think "MakeImmutable" is better than "Decorate" as the later is ambiguous i.e. a user reading the code won't know what "decorate" does, whereas "makeImmutable" will inform the user that this function will make the input string immutable/non-changable.
Is it possible to create variables to be a specific type in Lua?
E.g. int x = 4
If this is not possible, is there at least some way to have a fake "type" shown before the variable so that anyone reading the code will know what type the variable is supposed to be?
E.g. function addInt(int x=4, int y=5), but x/y could still be any type of variable? I find it much easier to type the variable's type before it rather than putting a comment at above the function to let any readers know what type of variable it is supposed to be.
The sole reason I'm asking isn't to limit the variable to a specific data type, but simply to have the ability to put a data type before the variable, whether it does anything or not, to let the reader know what type of variable that it is supposed to be without getting an error.
You can do this using comments:
local x = 4 -- int
function addInt(x --[[int]],
y --[[int]] )
You can make the syntax a = int(5) from your other comment work using the following:
function int(a) return a end
function string(a) return a end
function dictionary(a) return a end
a = int(5)
b = string "hello, world!"
c = dictionary({foo = "hey"})
Still, this doesn't really offer any benefits over a comment.
The only way I can think of to do this, would be by creating a custom type in C.
Lua Integer type
No. But I understand your goal is to improve understanding when reading and writing functions calls.
Stating the expected data type of parameters adds only a little in terms of giving a specification for the function. Also, some function parameters are polymorphic, accepting a specific value, or a function or table from which to obtain the value for a context in which the function operates. See string.gsub, for example.
When reading a function call, the only thing known at the call site is the name of the variable or field whose value is being invoked as a function (sometimes read as the "name" of the function) and the expressions being passed as actual parameters. It is sometimes helpful to refactor parameter expressions into named local variables to add to the readability.
When writing a function call, the name of the function is key. The names of the formal parameters are also helpful. But still, names (like types) do not comprise much of a specification. The most help comes from embedded structured documentation used in conjunction with an IDE that infers the context of a name and performs content assistance and presentations of available documentation.
luadoc is one such a system of documentation. You can write luadoc for function you declare.
Eclipse Koneki LDT is one such an IDE. Due to the dynamic nature of Lua, it is a difficult problem so LDT is not always as helpful as one would like. (To be clear, LDT does not use luadoc; It evolved its own embedded documentation system.)
In VBA, I want to use a name for a local variable that I'd also like to use for a function name. The problem I'd that the function name formatting always changes to the local variable formatting.
Any way to prevent that?
I highly recommend not using the same name for disambiguation purposes. Also, if VBA is not case sensitive, it may not know whether you are referring to the function or the variable and thus give a runtime error (I don't think it is compiled per se, but it goes to a proprietary p-code intermediate.)
Often when you'd like the names to be similar, it can be useful to prepend an underscore to one, such as a local variable. Thus I recommend you name the function FunctionName and the variable _FunctionName if you want to go that route.
If you want to try having the same name for each, you will likely need to edit the code outside of the IDE that is reformatting your code. In an editor that doesn't try to auto-format, you may be able to force it. Then whether it compiles or not is the question.
In Visual Basic, each function already has a variable named after the function. Assigning a value to this variable is the only way to set a return value for this function.
Therefore, declaring yet another variable of the same name creates ambiguity. You cannot do so. It results in the Duplicate declaration in current scope error.
And if by "local" variable you meant a module-level variable, then you cannot do it either: Ambiguous name detected: %s.
And if you are asking about a situation when a function and a variable of the same name belong to different scopes, then VBA will use the case of the line that was edited last. So if you declare a function and then declare a variable in another module, the function name will change case. But if you then return to the function, change its casing back and press Enter, the variable, in its turn, will change its casing to match the function name.