Code Smell 96 - My Objects

Code Smell 96 - My Objects

You don't own objects.

TL;DR: don't use my as a name prefix.

Problems

  • Lack of context

  • Bijection Fault

Solutions

  1. Remove my prefix.

  2. Change to a role suggesting name.

Context

Several old tutorials use the word 'my' as a lazy name. This is vague and lead to context mistakes.

Sample Code

Wrong

MainWindow myWindow = Application.Current.MainWindow as MainWindow;
MainWindow salesWindow = Application.Current.MainWindow as MainWindow;

/*

Since window is instanciated, we are currently working
with a specialized window playing a special role

*/

Detection

  • [x] Automatic

We can tell our linters and static checkers to search for this prefix and warn us.

Tags

  • Naming

Conclusion

Avoid using my. Objects change according to the usage context.

More Info

Credits

Photo by Michał Bożek on Unsplash


Thinking about my experience of modifying code, I see that I spend much more time reading the existing code than I do writing new code. If I want to make my code cheap, therefore, I should make it easy to read.

Kent Beck


This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.