From: Karthik Nayak Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2024 12:41:45 GMT Subject: [PATCH] CodingGuidelines: discourage arbitrary suffixes in function names Message-ID: <20241021124145.636561-1-karthik.188@gmail.com> We often name functions with arbitrary suffixes like `_1` as an extension of another existing function. This created confusion and doesn't provide good clarity into the functions purpose. Let's document good function naming etiquette in our CodingGuidelines. Signed-off-by: Karthik Nayak --- This is mostly in response to an ongoing thread [1] where I ran into one of these functions and it really took me a while to wrap my head around what the function does. [1]: https://lore.kernel.org/git/CAOLa=ZREg3xuaT6mbM8+Havn3regZDhK45kGy0+Fw8t56c7Mpg@mail.gmail.com/#R Documentation/CodingGuidelines | 5 +++++ 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+) diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines index 30fda4142c..b8e2d30567 100644 --- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines +++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines @@ -621,6 +621,11 @@ For C programs: - `S_free()` releases a structure's contents and frees the structure. + - Function names should be self-explanatory, clearly reflecting their + purpose or behavior. To maintain clarity and avoid confusion, + arbitrary suffixes such as _1 are discouraged, as they provide no + meaningful insight into the function's role. + For Perl programs: - Most of the C guidelines above apply. -- 2.47.0