Comments on: Why you need linguistic skills – part 1

By: Translating database column names for globalisation | Polymath Programmer

Translating database column names for globalisation | Polymath Programmer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:07:17 +0000

[...] said, there’s much to be desired for the variable naming skills of the database [...]

By: Vincent Tan

Vincent Tan — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:37:24 +0000

Ahhh… legacy code. I’ve had lots of fun before. Don’t miss the late nights and hair pulling though…

By: Ben Barden

Ben Barden — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:51:57 +0000

Ah OK. I’m still on VB6, haven’t really delved into VB.NET yet as our entire codebase is pre-.NET. Some is even in VB3. It’ll take ages to get it all to VB6, let alone any further. Still, I like a challenge!

By: Vincent Tan

Vincent Tan — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:13:31 +0000

My programming roots started with C actually. My first job required me to learn VB.NET, and so I did. The Visual Basic (.NET) code then was, uh, primitive, so yes, I do see some untyped variables here and there. Deciphering code became more exciting while I had to decipher what variable type I’m investigating too…

“but there is always a variable I have difficulty naming”
This variable inevitably ends up with a long name…

By: Ben Barden

Ben Barden — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:20:54 +0000

I have no excuse for bad variable naming because I don’t do it.

So, you’re a Visual Basic programmer? Same here, although I do PHP as well. In a lot of the code I’m working on, I’ve seen things like this:

Dim a, b, c
Dim x

Not only are those variables badly named, they’re not even given a type. I’m tasked with rewriting a lot of code so I can address stuff like this, but the code is often very hard to understand.

Personally, I like naming variables and I also use prefixes. e.g. intCommentCount, strDataPrefix, dteBirthDate. I still have issues with a few names though, as sometimes you end up with two very similar variable names or some very long variable names. It depends on the context, of course, but there is always a variable I have difficulty naming.

By: Why you need linguistic skills - part 2 | Polymath Programmer

Why you need linguistic skills - part 2 | Polymath Programmer — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:05:10 +0000

[...] ProgrammerCoding betterHome About Articles Resources Contact « Why you need linguistic skills – part 1 Are you dealing fatal blows? [...]

By: Vincent Tan

Vincent Tan — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:58:02 +0000

Oh yes, programming forces me to focus more on the grammar and syntax of the (programming) language. Once I took note of those, I took better note of them in human languages such as English, Chinese and even Japanese.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:26:26 +0000

I also think that programming can help develop your linguistic skills. I study French and the grammar is my favourite part, as it’s almost like programming. For example, when working with pronouns I use this formula – subject + object pronoun + verb and things like that.