[Phpmyadmin-devel] Maximum length of variable names

[Chanaka Dharmarathna]

>
>>
>>  >> I'm aware that I'm opening a can of worms, but can we discuss PHPMD
>>> rules?
>>> >
>>> > I think those were never actually discussed, we just run then in
>>> > Jenkins. So I think it's good idea to discuss coding style beyond
>>> > indentation and whitespaces.
>>> >
>>> >> In particular, I find that to obey the maximum variable name (20
>>> >> characters) rule, one has to sometimes abbreviate at the expanse of
>>> clarity.
>>> >
>>> > I think this is quite connected to line length as well. In case you
>>> > have longer variable names and stick with current line length, the code
>>> > will be a bit harder to read due to necessary wrapping, for example:
>>> >
>>> >
>>> https://github.com/phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin/blob/master/libraries/browse_foreigners.lib.php#L152
>>>
>>
>> I think the length of a variable name we should use is depend on variable
>> scope and complexity of the code segment. Less complexity code segment may
>> have shorten variable name while more complex code segment will have
>> lengthy variable names. Same for the scope as well. I prefer to have bit
>> lengthy variable since it will self describe the code even without the
>> comments.
>>
>> In case we care on the length, we can use comments on a variable
>> initializing point, which describe the shorten variable clearly. As well as
>> using camel case naming convention will save us from additional underscores
>> ($getEntryById < $get_entry_by_id)
>>
>> But as a standard we better have a limitation on the length of a variable
>> name. But I think we better keep the limit more than 20 (what about 25 ?)
>>
>
>  I agree. But is it possible to change the allowed length ?
> Here we are talking about PMD (
> http://ci.phpmyadmin.net/job/phpMyAdmin/910/pmdResult/type.811406648/),
> so I believe that we can't…
>

Does that mean we must follow these PMD rules?
Btw, I think customizing a PMD rule should be possible. Information in the
documentation [0] will be useful for find that out.
But I have no idea on how PMD works with Jenkins.

I see two possibilities here:
>
>> - abbreviate variable names (would make them even more difficult to
>>> understand)
>>> - improve the logic (I'll work on this case :)  )
>>>
>>> >
>>> > Looking at current long variable names, I see following patterns:
>>> >
>>> > - pma prefix, is that really needed? [1]
>>> No.
>>>
>>> >
>>> > - return values from function called $something_somewhere_html, using
>>> >   just $result might be even better to understand in this context [2]
>>> Agreed, when it's inside a function.
>>>
>>> >
>>> > - some variables still being used as globals, thus needing to provide
>>> >   too much context in their names [3]
>>> Usually a hint that this code segment needs refactoring.
>>> >
>>> > - some probably legitimate usages of long name [4]
>>> Agreed.
>>>
>>> >
>>> > [1]:
>>> https://github.com/phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin/blob/master/view_create.php#L95
>>> > [2]:
>>> https://github.com/phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin/blob/master/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php#L5203
>>> > [3]:
>>> https://github.com/phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin/blob/master/libraries/mysql_charsets.inc.php#L17
>>> > [4]:
>>> https://github.com/phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin/blob/master/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php#L2779
>>>
>>
[0] : http://pmd.sourceforge.net/pmd-5.0.5/howtowritearule.html

-- 
Chanaka Dharmarathna
*Virtusa (Pvt) Ltd. | **Sri Lanka*
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