names of classes and methods in wxWidgets

[misterboo]

Hi,

I have a little problem with the names of methods and classes in wxWidgets. Normally I have these konventions:

The first letter of classes is written uppercase

The first letter of methods is lower case and at the beginning of a new word, the first letter of the word is written upper case.

But: Why does wxWidgets not use these konventions? There it is inversed. Java, Qt and other toolkits or languages use these konventions. My problem is: I wanna use wxWidgets in some of my applications. But here I have all my classes with my namings and now the wxWidgets have other konventions, so the code is in confusion.

Is there a toolkit similar to wxWidgets, Qt and co using my name konventions?

Boo

[geon]

Yes, Life is a bitch.

Personally I like the wx naming standard. Most things are named exactly as I would have done it myself.

But tastes differ. At work I have to use the winAPI / STL naming standard. After a while, you will get used to it.

[Jorg]

Is it really that important for you?

I would more focus on the inside then on the "outside" .. Great looking method names is nice for the programmer, but the user does not see anything about that. So I would say, just obey the rules when you have to.

Windows also uses uppercase for every method, are you going to look for a different OS that handles your naming convention as well ? (just to put thins in perspective wxWidgets is a great toolkit, I hope youwill give it a try ..

Regards,
- Jorgen

[misterboo]

Hi,

thank you for your answers. But I think, it is very important, that my code is cleaned up. That there a consequent and continual structure of classes and that the names of classes and methods are clear.

You say:

Windows also uses uppercase for every method,...

That's a reason for me to say: ok it's really ugly Windows is no excuse for this, quite the contrary

I think I will continue my search for a free toolkit, that suits to my code. If there is no alternative, I am not sure, what to do. Either using Java, buying a qt licence (but it is too expensive) or using wxwidgets. I am really not sure.

Boo

[Jorg]

Sorry to say this, but I don't think you can judge a book by it's cover. If the consistent code syntax you use is so important, maybe convent it the other way around ? Confirm yourself to the wxWidgets standard and not to the "lowercase" methods ??

It's kind of strange to abandon any toolkit (Qt, wxWidgets, whatever) because they do not confirm to your code convention. The next time when you do find that one toolkit that has methods names the way you want it, and you want to use another free library, that ONE library you really need, are you refusing to use it because it also happens to clash with your personal code covention rules? At some point you have to give in and just use it if there is no alternative.

Programming is more like finding the right path, and leaving every 3rd party lib just like it was meant. Even when it clashes your personal preference

But anyway, good luck in your quest..

Regards,
- Jorgen

[misterboo]

Hi,

yes I know, what you mean. But in the last few years I acquired one style. I use it in all my programs, so I am still unsure, if I wanna change this style, just because there is a toolkit which has other conventions. Normally I am using qt, but I need a toolkit for a commercial project and the qt licence is too exspensive for me. My project is not profitable enough to buy it, so I am looking for a free alternative. GTK is very ugly. Not object oriented enough for me and the methods like gtk_new_xy_with_y(parameters) are not, what I like to use. I also took a look at other toolkits, but nothing comes up to my expectations. Only wxWidgets seems to be an alternative. Not easy

Boo

[Sirius]

My own learning curve is VB -> Win32 API -> Java -> MFC -> PHP -> Qt (not much) -> wxWidgets. Personally, I like the style of JAVA also but I dont think this is a problem of chosing wxWidgets. What i did for my own project is ... use upper case for those event (OnBtnClick, OnMenuClick..) and use lower case for those set/get (setValue, getRectPoint). And I use this way in my PHP code also.

[misterboo]

Hi,

I could also use these conventions: Own classes are being written upper case and methods lower case and original wxWidgets classes and methods have their style. So it could be interpreted: This is a special style So I can directly see, if the method is an inherited wxWidget Method, or an own method.

Boo

[misterboo]

I only wanted to say, that I just started my first project with wxWidgets. I've decided to give it a try. But I have already the first problems I will post my questions in a new thread.

Thank you all again

Boo

[ABX]

Is there a toolkit similar to wxWidgets, Qt and co using my name konventions?

Yes, that toolkit is named wxWidgets

If you do not like the names within wxWidgets but likes features of it you can create own include file with defines for those names you do not like wrtitten in your convention. Something like:

#define MyStyleOfNamingForFrame wxFrame
#define MyStyleOfNamingForButton wxButton

This will be hard work but you can extend this file each time you are using class, macro or variable you not used earlier.

But in fact as others I do not understand why it is so important to use different naming because one of skills every programmer should have is ability to reading and understanding sources regardless conventions. That is not so strange that withing one source you have wxWidgets code which creates output in JavaScript script which writes HTML. Reading a few conventions at once quickly make you insensitive to them - the algorithm is the thing which is important

ABX

[HopeSeekr]

I personally *love* wx naming conventions!!

Or, we could all be glum and have_every_function_in_lower_case_with_under_scores(with_fifty, unknown_datatypes)

sort of reminds me of the horror days back with GTK+ 1.0 and my first non-Win32 program...

The only problem i have with the naming conventions is that they are abominably inconsistent in many places.

event.GetString()
textctrl.GetValue()
staticlabel.GetText()...

they should *all* be the same function, dammit.

[Ryan Norton]

----------
event.GetString()
textctrl.GetValue()
staticlabel.GetText()...
----------

Actually, you can use GetLabel on the 2nd and 3rd ones.

Also, since this is really a rehashed thread, I'm tempted to close it if there isn't any substantive discussion here (other than bashing wxWidgets for having Windows conventions which I happen to like - choosing a toolkit based on naming conventions is just silly).

[Avi]

I have to agree with HopeSeekr about the inconsistency. Not to bash, but simply to ask the devs to have general consistant lines when they are choosing function names Anyway, this sort of reminds me how Java got a *lot* more consistant in 1.4.x release series. And yes, heh, I guess you can lock this post now.

[HopeSeekr]

ahh!!! only terrorists support lockdowns of posts
lol...after listening to the first round of USA Presidential Debates, one comes away thinking that a significant portion of Americans are *actually* afraid of dying by the hands of terrorists.

You stand far more danger from your neighbor's poverty and your lack of healthcare, not to mention the collapsing global economies, than from distant cave dwellers...especially in Kansas.

The intent of this post is both to be humorous and make the thread *so* obnoxiously off-topic that it will be locked :p (e.g. passive resistance).

[jdratlif]

Hi,

I have a little problem with the names of methods and classes in wxWidgets. Normally I have these konventions:

The first letter of classes is written uppercase

The first letter of methods is lower case and at the beginning of a new word, the first letter of the word is written upper case.

But: Why does wxWidgets not use these konventions? There it is inversed. Java, Qt and other toolkits or languages use these konventions. My problem is: I wanna use wxWidgets in some of my applications. But here I have all my classes with my namings and now the wxWidgets have other konventions, so the code is in confusion.

Is there a toolkit similar to wxWidgets, Qt and co using my name konventions?

Boo

To be fair, wxWidgets uses a perfectly standard convention for naming, and they seem to be consistent a good portion of the time (nothing is 100%, even Java does not follow it's conventions 100% of the time -- an oversight, I'm sure, but the fact remains...)

I also prefer the Java convention, and in the code I write, I follow the Java convention. I dislike that this clashes with the wxWidgets convention, but you can't always get what you want.

More importantly, I feel I should make fun of you for posting a topic which mocks the conventions of wxWidgets while ignoring English language spelling "konventions".

"...and a sloppy speller too. The preferred spelling of "weiner" is W-I-E-N-E-R" -- Martin Prince (the Simpsons)

(Just a joke. Hope I did not offend you.)