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cool, and here i thought i was alone in needing to take time to name things correctly.

had to name a variable earlier this week and even broke out the thesaurus. best i could muster was years_experienced_absolute :/


Sometimes when I have trouble coming up with a good name it's a sign that I need to rethink the surrounding code as well.

Since naming is hard, I try to minimize the number of names I create. I think the number of names in a codebase is a measure of complexity.


Names are also critical to understanding.

It's very similar to the phenomenon of notation (including maths, sciences, and, yes, programming languages themselves):

"By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and, in effect, increases the mental power of the race." -- P Davis and R Hersh The Mathematical Experience (Boston 1981).

I know that my team spends an inordinate amount of time debatting the names of concepts. We've found that, since we're trying to build something unique, there aren't always words for the concepts we're building. Worse yet, there are words that are close, but not quite right! It's extremely difficult to write any code before everyone can hear a word and reach a common mental image. I've found that if you get the right names, the code is so much easier to write and reason about.


Sometimes though, not finding good names might just be an indication of the newness or non-standardized nature of the situation you are using the name in. Even in natural languages, there are concepts/situations which have names in one language and must be described using sentences in others. Trying to fit something into the currently popular wordlist might then be an artificial requirement.


exactly.


yet another world's cheapest [insert gadget] announcement. time to step it up, waiting for the day i hear world's best...


It will really help if they provide affordable or better free WiFi countrywide


Toronto, Canada; Kanetix - http://www.kanetix.ca

Looking for a developer with both front and back end skills who can get stuff done.

Our current web stack: linux, apache, perl, oracle sql, memcached, html/css/js).

Similar concept as www.leaky.com and www.coverhound.com, but for Canada and more established--recently acquired by a private equity firm. Offering competitive salary, incentive bonus, profit-sharing, health benefits, RRSP matching, free drinks, and a young and casual work environment.

  more info: http://www.kanetix.ca/job-website-developer
  email: kanetix_hr@kanetix.ca


Toronto, Canada; Kanetix - http://www.kanetix.ca

This month we're specifically looking for a developer with Java experience to work primarily on rating engines. You'd be working in a small team of 4 developers.

The majority of the work would be Java with some web development (our web stack: linux, apache, perl, oracle sql, memcached, html/css/js). An insurance background would be beneficial, but is not necessary.

Job posting: http://www.kanetix.ca/job-website-developer


Nice job, works really well


Showed it to a non techie friend who loves to cook. Here's his amusing feedback...

  foodnetwork has an app where u can search a recipe then make a shopping list  
  that's useful
  an app that spits out random ingredients based on a search term does not impress me so much 
  search the term 'poo' in this amazing app then 'pee' 
  then 'shit' 
  no i know that bacon goes well with everything....but c'mon now


"no i know that bacon goes well with everything"

Unless you're a vegetarian or vegan, of course. :-)


Toronto - Web Developer - http://www.kanetix.ca

Looking for a web developer to join our team who is interested in learning and wants to bring their skills and ideas to the table.

info: http://jobs.perl.org/job/13944


how about calling it RESTish? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2242162


How about calling it what it is, namely RPC?


Yes. The terms "RESTish" or "lower REST" are just a way to stay buzzword compliant, not actually a way of elucidating anything. They're catch-all buzzword substitutes for more accurate terms.

They're particularly bad since a strict interpretation of REST can still be valuable, yet it makes REST itself seem overly nebulous and fluffy.

People advocating terms like "RESTish" or looser definitions of REST seem to think that REST is an ultimate goal of any decent web API. It's not, REST doesn't need to be used everywhere, your API isn't crap if it's not REST. So stop calling it REST like you're embarrassed to admit it's "just" RPC.

(Sorry for ranting in reply to you -- you seem to get it)


It's not RESTish.


lol whoops, forgot my sarcasm tags. i was not advocating calling anything RESTish.


Or "drowsy?"


we used cufon for the last few years. looking to switch now since google preview doesn't support canvas and you end up with screenshots with no text


yep, doesn't belong here. (unless it was less generic)



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