Python Naming Conventions: Points You Should Know


Python is an object-oriented programming language and has evolved a lot over the past few years and has gained tremendous popularity among developers, students and data enthusiasts. We can use any name to create and use all kinds of objects in python project since it’s an object-oriented programming language. There arise a lot of effort in deciding meaningful class names, method names, variables, etc. even it differs from developers to developers. Naming conventions then becomes the rules of thumb for naming the objects, class, variables or methods that we create. Let us discuss a few of the major naming convention, best practices and important points everyone should know.

General

  • Avoid names that are too general or wordy. Maintain a good balance between the two.
  • Bad: user_list, dict_to_store_defns_of_a_word, swapNums, moveInts.
  • Good: user_info, word_definitions, swap_numbers, move_integers.
  • Avoid naming things like “X”, “Y” or “Z”. Capitalize all letters of an abbreviation when using camelcase.
  • Avoid names starting with digits. Combination of lowercase letters (a to z) or uppercase letters (A to Z) or digits (0 to 9) or an underscore (_) can be used.

Name a Package in python

  • It is important to use only lowercase while naming a package in python.
  • Use an underscore to join multiple words.
  • However, it is preferable to keep a short name. (Stick into one-word name)

Module name

  • Use lowercase for module names.
  • Use an underscore to join multiple words to generate a meaningful module name.
  • Stick to 1-word module names.

Class name in Python

  • Class name in python should follow naming scheme called CapWords convention.
  • Python has its built-in classes, however are typically lowercase.
  • Exception classes should always end in “Error”.

Global Variables

  • Global variables should be in lowercase
  • Use an underscore to join words in a global variable.

Good Instance variable name

  • Instance variable names should be in lowercase.
  • Use an underscore to join multiple words in an instance variable.
  • Non-public instance variable name should begin with a single underscore.
  • Use two consecutive underscores at the beginning of an instance variable.

Method name in Python

  • Use only lowercase in method names.
  • An underscore should separate words in a method name.
  • Non-public method name should begin with a single underscore.
  • Use two consecutive underscores at the beginning of a method name, if it needs to be mangled.

Method Arguments

  • Every instance method should have ‘self’ as its first argument.
  • Class methods should have their first argument named ‘cls’.

Functions

  • Function names should be in lower case.
  • Use an underscore to join words in function name.

Constants in Python

  • Only use upper case for constant names.
  • Use an underscore as a separator to join multiple words to form a long constant name.

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