If you don’t have standard naming conventions in your Xojo (or any other language for that matter) project you need to start NOW.  I mean it.  Open your IDE of choice and start looking at your variable names.  Can you tell at a glance what type of variable it is?  Better yet, can you tell what it does?  Or do you have a bunch of x, i, y, and z’s floating around in your code?

What about your TextFields?  Do you name them so you can tell their function or do you simply use the default name that the IDE gives you?  How do you tell the difference between TextField1 and TextField2?

Literally, the first thing I do when handed an OPC (Other Peoples Code) project is to look at the control names.  If I see TextField1 and TextFieldX I will almost always turn the project down.  But if I see txtName and txtAddress I know that I can figure out the code without constantly having to look at the Layout Editor.  The point is that controls are referenced in Xojo code all the time so if you’re naming your controls so that their function is obvious, the code will be obvious too.

The same goes with variable names.  I will prepend arrays with ar so that an array of MyClass will always look like aroMyClass.  My dictionaries always have dict in the front.  Colors always have c prefixes and so on (see chart below).

Do I use the occasional i, x, y and so on?  Absolutely, but they are throw away variables that are inevitably part of a loop of some sort.  If I’m using that variable for any other reason I will always name it something useful.

Variable names are important.  Rarely will you see me using iTemp as integer.  Instead, I’ll use iTempIndex which will at least tell me something about the variable.

I dare you to look at a project you did a year ago and open up any random method in it.  Can you read the code without referring to the Layout Editor?  I know that I’ve refined my own coding standards because of this.  If you’re not learning from your past mistakes why keep doing what you’ve always done?

I can hear some of you now.  Standards…Pft!  I don’t need no stinkin’ standards.  Think again.  I’m not here to tell you what those standards are just that you have them and that you are consistent about them.

Do what makes sense to you.  I looked at hungarian notation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_notation) and I can see why people call it a different language.  While I’m sure it has many fine qualities it seems to make more work for me in figuring out what the variables are doing.  It’s way too complicated for Xojo.  For me, at least, simpler is better.  Plus, I’m not sure that a strongly-typed language like Xojo is in need of such strong naming conventions.

Using naming conventions for your controls and variables is an easy way to simplify your life and your clients’ life (if you’re handing code over).  Remember, you’re not just coding for the here and now, you’re coding for someone that will look at the code 6 to 12 months from now.  That someone might just be you!

Below is values right out of our new developer introduction document: