Some advice on method naming...

[harry]

I have the following method in a java bean class -

private boolean saveReturnPart(List<WarningMessageVO> messages)
{
boolean ret;

// logic here determines if a Return Part should be saved and sets "ret"
variable

return ret;
}

The method basically returns true if a return part should be saved, false if
not - the problem is (and probably a very stupid question) what should i
name the method?

isSaveReturnPart() - doesn't sound right

saveReturnPart() - sounds like it's doing the actual save

shouldSaveReturnPart() - sounds right but is "should" the word to use?

is there a standard for this? - any suggestions?

thanks in advance

harry

 

[Arved Sandstrom]

I have the following method in a java bean class -

private boolean saveReturnPart(List<WarningMessageVO> messages)
{
boolean ret;

// logic here determines if a Return Part should be saved and sets "ret"
variable

return ret;
}

The method basically returns true if a return part should be saved, false
if not - the problem is (and probably a very stupid question) what should
i name the method?

isSaveReturnPart() - doesn't sound right

saveReturnPart() - sounds like it's doing the actual save

shouldSaveReturnPart() - sounds right but is "should" the word to use?

is there a standard for this? - any suggestions?

thanks in advance

harry

'is' is the semi-standard prefix for boolean methods...that is, you see if
that'll work for you first. But 'has', 'can' and 'should' are also perfectly
acceptable, because they all imply a truth value.

Your last suggestion is fine - it expresses the desired idea exactly.

AHS

 

[harry]

'is' is the semi-standard prefix for boolean methods...that is, you see if
that'll work for you first. But 'has', 'can' and 'should' are also
perfectly acceptable, because they all imply a truth value.

Your last suggestion is fine - it expresses the desired idea exactly.

AHS

thanks for that Arved, jsut needed someone to give me a sanity check!

 

[Jean-Baptiste Nizet]

harry a écrit :

I have the following method in a java bean class -

private boolean saveReturnPart(List<WarningMessageVO> messages)
{
boolean ret;

// logic here determines if a Return Part should be saved and sets "ret"
variable

return ret;
}

The method basically returns true if a return part should be saved, false if
not - the problem is (and probably a very stupid question) what should i
name the method?

isSaveReturnPart() - doesn't sound right

saveReturnPart() - sounds like it's doing the actual save

shouldSaveReturnPart() - sounds right but is "should" the word to use?

is there a standard for this? - any suggestions?

Hi.

If the method was a property accessor and should conform to the standard
JavaBeans naming conventions, the "is" prefix would be mandatory. I
would then choose a name like isReturnPartSaveNeeded(). But since this
is a simple method, which is private BTW, shouldSaveReturnPart is
perfect: it says exactly what themethod does.

JB.

 

[Maarten Bodewes]

harry a écrit :

Hi.

If the method was a property accessor and should conform to the standard
JavaBeans naming conventions, the "is" prefix would be mandatory. I
would then choose a name like isReturnPartSaveNeeded(). But since this
is a simple method, which is private BTW, shouldSaveReturnPart is
perfect: it says exactly what themethod does.

I do think that getSaveReturnPart() would also be acceptable. I don't
use beans much, but maybe that's an advantage for questions like this.

Regards,
Maarten

 

[Daniel Pitts]

Of your ideas, I prefer "shouldSaveReturnPart". Personally, I would use
"doSaveReturnPart", but I think that is just a matter of taste.

Patricia

I disagree. While it is somewhat a matter of choice, its also a style of
communication.
To me, shouldFoo() implies a test to determine whether to call doFoo().
I would expect constructs like:
if (shouldFoo()) {
doFoo();
}

If only Java had allowed "?" as part of an identifier.
if (saveReturnPart?()) {
saveReturnPart();
}