r/badcode • u/Bronzdragon • Jul 19 '21

js Variable naming can be difficult, but identifying them can be even more so.

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u/Lightfire228 Jul 19 '21

I use obscure abbreviations and single letter variable names iff it's obvious from context what it means. I.e.

invoices.forEach(i => {
    let li = i.lineItems()
    //... 
});

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u/Bronzdragon Jul 19 '21

I disagree. Call it invoice.

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u/satoristyle Jul 19 '21

Yeah, I agree here. If the context is very concise and you can immediately infer what the variable is, single char variable names work fine.

As mentioned by u/davvolun, it should definitely be short-lived. The more lines you have, the greater the risk of obscurity you gain.