3 ms·

Maybe I'm just naive (probably), but is it really that off putting that the casing convention isn't the same? To be honest, I don't know what most languages "a

by jplahn 12y ago

Maybe I'm just naive (probably), but is it really that off putting that the casing convention isn't the same? To be honest, I don't know what most languages "are" with regards to the casing convention..and I've never been explicitly told what they should be either.

fivedogit 12y ago
I was once turned down for a coding job based on stylistic complaints with my code, one of which was that I used snake_casing instead of the (apparently preferred) camelCasing in Java. Since then I've resolved myself to the fact that in almost all things CS, there are many different ways to get to the final answer or finished product and your way of doing it is fine if it gets the job done in a timely manner while minimizing future complications. Anyone claiming a "right way" to do something at the level of irrelevant casing either has a larger organization to worry about in terms of code readability, etc and is therefore justified if your project is meant to be shared with others OR is professing code piousness as a way to stroke their own ego.
- mattdesl 12y ago
  I don't think it's reason to turn somebody down, but it can be fairly annoying using a library that doesn't follow standard naming conventions. If your code brings together four different libraries and they all use drastically different conventions (case, wording, parameter style, etc) it can quickly lead to a messy and difficult to maintain codebase.
  - jplahn 12y ago
    Fair enough, I can definitely see that being an annoyance. Especially in the context of this being a light library, it's undoubtedly going to be utilized with any number of other libraries. Good point.
- hnriot 12y ago
  It's not that the style was "wrong", it's that anyone who writes java and doesn't know something as basic about the language as the style conventions. I would also reject a candidate that didn't know the rudimentary stuff. What else don't they know? Especially for Java, not so much for JS, but Java is an enterprise language which means you'll be one cog in a big machine and you need to know and respect the coding conventions to stand any chance of being an efficient member of their team. I would actually say that coding style is a big predictor of how likely an interview candidate would turn out to be a good developer in a team. Casing isn't irrelevant at all, it's a predictor. It has nothing to do with piousness. Another indicator of bad java developers (in my experience) is those that write near 'c', lots of for(int i=0; i<.... and not using language constructs that are their to reduce bugs. Another good indicator I have found (in java) is little to no use of 'final'. If you'd have prefaced your coding in the interview with "I'm not familiar with Java, I use X, but I'll take a stab at the problem" I'm sure the interviewer would have been less worried about your style, but if you claim to know a language, you'll know the conventions too.
- frakkingcylons 12y ago
  Not to be rude, but there was likely more to their decision than style errors and they didn't tell you.
bsimpson 12y ago
I'm a big believer in consistent, readable codebases. Anything that doesn't make it easier to understand and improve the code shouldn't be occupying your headspace. You should never have to answer "now why didn't that work" with "I was supposed to use with_scale instead of withScale." There are of course languages where the ecosystem itself is inconsistent (like PHP) or there are no conventions to follow (like CSS). In those cases, use whatever's your favorite; however, if you are snake_casing JavaScript or camelCasing Python, you're doing it wrong. If you're the only one who ever touches your projects, it doesn't matter, but for anyone who has to work with your codebase, you've created a pain-in-the-ass for no good reason.
- jhgg 12y ago
  Although most Python is written in snake_casing, it there's still a few big frameworks that use camelCasing and when you're using them, camelCasing is the way to go. One that comes to mind off the top of my head is Twisted/Zope.
- debaserab2 12y ago
  Of the many faults a library author can make, variable declaration style is pretty low on the list of things that are truly going to affect the product of the library. I'll always sacrifice style and convention for features such as performance, ease of use, or capabilities. Things like variable naming conventions being in line with the rest of my project are on the nice-to-have list, but definitely not going to drive my decision on whether to use a library or not.
  - madeofpalk 12y ago
    To me, it says that the author is out of touch with the community and the commonly followed standards and suggests they're breaking other conventions (that affect the product more than naming convention)
    - debaserab2 12y ago
      What other conventions would be broken if the library has quality performance and features? How does being out of touch with the community affect how good a library is?

by jplahn 12y ago

fivedogit 12y ago

I was once turned down for a coding job based on stylistic complaints with my code, one of which was that I used snake_casing instead of the (apparently preferred) camelCasing in Java. Since then I've resolved myself to the fact that in almost all things CS, there are many different ways to get to the final answer or finished product and your way of doing it is fine if it gets the job done in a timely manner while minimizing future complications. Anyone claiming a "right way" to do something at the level of irrelevant casing either has a larger organization to worry about in terms of code readability, etc and is therefore justified if your project is meant to be shared with others OR is professing code piousness as a way to stroke their own ego.

mattdesl 12y ago
I don't think it's reason to turn somebody down, but it can be fairly annoying using a library that doesn't follow standard naming conventions. If your code brings together four different libraries and they all use drastically different conventions (case, wording, parameter style, etc) it can quickly lead to a messy and difficult to maintain codebase.
- jplahn 12y ago
  Fair enough, I can definitely see that being an annoyance. Especially in the context of this being a light library, it's undoubtedly going to be utilized with any number of other libraries. Good point.
hnriot 12y ago
It's not that the style was "wrong", it's that anyone who writes java and doesn't know something as basic about the language as the style conventions. I would also reject a candidate that didn't know the rudimentary stuff. What else don't they know? Especially for Java, not so much for JS, but Java is an enterprise language which means you'll be one cog in a big machine and you need to know and respect the coding conventions to stand any chance of being an efficient member of their team. I would actually say that coding style is a big predictor of how likely an interview candidate would turn out to be a good developer in a team. Casing isn't irrelevant at all, it's a predictor. It has nothing to do with piousness. Another indicator of bad java developers (in my experience) is those that write near 'c', lots of for(int i=0; i<.... and not using language constructs that are their to reduce bugs. Another good indicator I have found (in java) is little to no use of 'final'. If you'd have prefaced your coding in the interview with "I'm not familiar with Java, I use X, but I'll take a stab at the problem" I'm sure the interviewer would have been less worried about your style, but if you claim to know a language, you'll know the conventions too.
frakkingcylons 12y ago
Not to be rude, but there was likely more to their decision than style errors and they didn't tell you.

bsimpson 12y ago

I'm a big believer in consistent, readable codebases. Anything that doesn't make it easier to understand and improve the code shouldn't be occupying your headspace. You should never have to answer "now why didn't that work" with "I was supposed to use with_scale instead of withScale." There are of course languages where the ecosystem itself is inconsistent (like PHP) or there are no conventions to follow (like CSS). In those cases, use whatever's your favorite; however, if you are snake_casing JavaScript or camelCasing Python, you're doing it wrong. If you're the only one who ever touches your projects, it doesn't matter, but for anyone who has to work with your codebase, you've created a pain-in-the-ass for no good reason.

jhgg 12y ago
Although most Python is written in snake_casing, it there's still a few big frameworks that use camelCasing and when you're using them, camelCasing is the way to go. One that comes to mind off the top of my head is Twisted/Zope.
debaserab2 12y ago
Of the many faults a library author can make, variable declaration style is pretty low on the list of things that are truly going to affect the product of the library. I'll always sacrifice style and convention for features such as performance, ease of use, or capabilities. Things like variable naming conventions being in line with the rest of my project are on the nice-to-have list, but definitely not going to drive my decision on whether to use a library or not.
- madeofpalk 12y ago
  To me, it says that the author is out of touch with the community and the commonly followed standards and suggests they're breaking other conventions (that affect the product more than naming convention)
  - debaserab2 12y ago
    What other conventions would be broken if the library has quality performance and features? How does being out of touch with the community affect how good a library is?