Good programming techniques
Too many tutorials simply teach you how to program, without
ever teaching you how to make good programs.
- Pick good variable names
-
Here are some things should consider when choosing variable
names.
- Meaningful names
-
The variable name should convey what kind of information
is contained in the object. Here are some examples:
| Good |
|
Bad |
|---|
age
student
name
count
sum
product
|
|
a
foo
xwy
|
- Multi-word names.
-
Don't be afraid of making variable names with more than
one word. Just make sure that it's readable.
There are two conventions for doing this:
I prefer the last one, but it's up to you.
Plese do not write 'studentage'. You would not
appreciate it if I wrote this tutorial without any
spaces.
- Use irb
-
You should not stop using irb simply because you can
use an editor. I showed you irb first for a reason. When
you program, you should keep an irb window open, and go
back to it whenever you want to experiment with ideas.
This is what irb was designed for. If you use it
wisely, it will make you a much better programmer.
- Use constants
-
Whenever you have a value that should not change, always make
it a constant. This way Ruby will help you catch some possible
errors.
Some examples:
Pi = 3.14159265
Electron_mass = 9.109e-31
Speed_of_light = 3e8
Earth_Sun_distance = 5.79e10
In general, do not write numerical values directly.
Use constants to make your code more clear.
For instance,
the formula for the area of a circle is A=πr2. Where
r is the radius. Your code should resemble this formula as much
as possible.
| Good |
Bad |
|---|
PI = 3.14159265
area = PI*radius**2
|
area = 3.1416*radius**2
|
|
