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Message:

Question about method names

Posted by John D. Heintz on 10 May 1998, 8:43 AM

I think this question is at least slightly related to
your column and find it to be the challenging part for
me in arranging my code into methods.

My question is how to you name private methods differently
than public methods?

To use your doSomething(Component c) example, suppose
we wanted:

public void doSomething(Component c) {
	if(c.isVisible()) {
		//call some private method
	} else {
		//call some other private method
	}
}

Now what should we name the private methods?
Verbose names could be:
private void doPrivateSomethingNotVisible(Component c);
and
private void doPrivateSomethingVisible(Component c);

This is a little long for my taste, but clear. Is
adding the "Private" qualifier good?

I often find that I want a public method with a name
and I private one(s) with the same name, where the
public method uses queries to handle control
and requirements rules while the private one(s) does
the actual work.

Sorry about the rambling nature of this posting, I
haven't thought about this issue clearly enough to
write about it well.

Thanks,
John

• Naming methods: no simple answers Bill Venners 13 May 1998, 1:49 AM (0)