What are the naming styles of C user identifiers?

C language identifier naming rules: consist of letters, numbers and underscores. The first character must be a letter or underscore and is case sensitive. The naming styles include camel, underlined and Hungarian nomenclature. It is recommended to use a concise and clear camel nomenclature, but team consistency is more important. Naming should be based on the name and avoid using meaningless identifiers. Naming style has nothing to do with performance, and the main purpose is to improve code readability and maintainability.

C language user identifier naming, this thing looks simple, but in fact there are many ways. If you don't understand, the code you wrote is like a pot of stew, and you will be overwhelmed when you look back. In this article, let’s talk about the naming of this identifier so that you can feel more at ease when writing code.

Let’s talk about the conclusion first: There are no mandatory regulations for naming C language identifiers, but there are good habits that are conventional. Following these habits can make your code clearer, easier to maintain, and better reflect your programming literacy. Don't follow? Then your code is waiting for your teammates to complain about!

Basic knowledge, we need to lay the groundwork

In C language, identifiers are the names you give to variables, functions, structures, etc. Remember, an identifier can only consist of letters, numbers, and underscores, and the first character must be a letter or underscore. Case sensitive, myVar and myvar are two different identifiers. You must keep this rule in mind, otherwise the compiler will report you an error without mercy.

Core: Naming style, this is the key

Let’s analyze several common naming styles one by one:

• Camel Case: capitalize the initial letter of a word, such as myVariable , userName . This style looks more comfortable and is more commonly used. But be careful whether the first letter of the first word should be capitalized depends on the specific situation.
• Underscore nomenclature (Snake Case): Words are connected by underscores, such as my_variable and user_name . This style is also quite popular in C language, especially in some large projects, with high clarity. However, with too many underscores, it looks a bit cumbersome.
• Hungarian Nomenclature (Hungarian Notation): Prefixes the variable name to represent the variable type, such as int iAge , char *szName . This method was common in early C programming, but it has been gradually eliminated because the type information compiler already knows that adding prefixes seems redundant and it is also troublesome to maintain. Unless you have a particularly strong need for type checking of your code, it is not recommended.

Code examples to make you more intuitive

Hump ​​style:

 <code class="c">#include <stdio.h> int main() { int studentAge = 20; char studentName[50] = "John Doe"; printf("Student age: %d, Name: %s\n", studentAge, studentName); return 0; }</stdio.h></code>

Underlined:

 <code class="c">#include <stdio.h> int main() { int student_age = 20; char student_name[50] = "John Doe"; printf("Student age: %d, Name: %s\n", student_age, student_name); return 0; }</stdio.h></code>

Advanced usage, and some pitfalls

There is actually no absolute good or bad choice in naming style. The key lies in the consistency of the team and the readability of the code. Once you choose a style, stick to it, don't use hump for a while, or underscore for a while, which will make your code look messy.

In addition, naming should be done to see the name and know the meaning. Do not use meaningless identifiers such as a , b , and c , unless they are used as temporary variables in some very simple algorithms. Good naming can greatly improve the readability and maintainability of the code.

Performance optimization? This has nothing to do with the naming style

Naming style has little impact on performance, mainly to improve the readability and maintainability of the code. Don't think about improving performance by modifying the naming style, it's a pure waste of time.

Best practices, my experience

I personally recommend the camel nomenclature, which is concise and clear and easy to read. But in some places where types need to be emphasized, the underline nomenclature is also good. The most important thing is to maintain consistency within the team and stick to it after choosing a style. Remember, the code is written for people to read, not for compilers to read. Only clear and easy-to-understand code can reduce bugs and improve efficiency. This is the kingly way!

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