Navigation: Appendix B: Dolphin Pattern Book > Method Patterns >
Method Name
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Navigation: Appendix B: Dolphin Pattern Book > Method Patterns > Method Name |
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Context
When creating a New Method, the choice of a good selector name and the names of the parameters will promote the understanding of the method's purpose. It will also improve the readability of the method source and that of the methods which call it.
Solution
Choose a selector name which communicates what the method will do, not how it will do it. Avoid including any information about the implementation details.
Method names should always begin with a lowercase letter. If the name contains more than one word, then use Word Capitalization to form the name. The exception to this is when a method takes more than one parameter - each component of the method name which follows a parameter should start with a lowercase letter.
The method name should read as a description of what to do with the parameters being passed eg. #at:put:. Often, the parameter names can supply the type of the parameter and be of the form anInteger, aCharacter etc. You should end up with a method header which reads as a sentence:
#at: anInteger put: aCharacter
If there is more than one parameter of the same type, then the names should include further information to differentiate between them:
#from: startInteger to: stopInteger
In addition to the above guidelines, there is an informal convention for naming certain types of method.
| • | Initialization Methods use #initialize for an Instance Initialisation method. |
| • | Accessor Methods Generally have the same name as the instance variable they access. |
| • | Testing Methods Usually have the format #isXXX. eg. #isOpen, #isEmpty. |
| • | Converting Methods Usually have the format #asXxxxxx. eg. #asString, #asFloat. |
| • | External Library Methods Methods in the ExternalLibrary hierarchy have a special naming convention as described in External Method Selector. |
Examples
open
asSortedCollection
includes: anObject
includesKey: aKey
at: anInteger put: aCharacter
from: startInteger to: stopInteger
associationAt: aKey ifAbsent: exceptionHandler
replaceFrom: start to: stop with: replacementElements startingAt: repStart
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