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0 pointsjboy9y ago0 comments

Some C++ programmers, perhaps. But I've just explained why `empty` & `clear` are ambiguous. Even if `empty` & `clear` can never be removed from the STL containers, there's no requirement that these ambiguous names must be propagated to new code.

But focusing exclusively on these two names is missing the forest for the trees. These two names are just a particularly striking example that illustrates the benefit of prefixes. A codebase that applies useful prefix naming will be an easier codebase to understand.

And applying prefix naming consistently will also make it easier for a new developer to contribute to a codebase, since there will be no ambiguity about what to name new functions, nor what to expect them to be named. `is_empty` & `make_empty` would simply be part of that consistency.

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pimlottc9y ago

I agree with you, but honkhonkpants raises a good point - sometimes you must bow to existing convention, even if it doesn't meet current best practice.

jboyOP9y ago

"Sometimes you must bow to existing convention" is indeed a reasonable point, so I suppose I should clarify/refine my position.

If you're implementing an STL-like container in C++, then absolutely -- you should stick with the convention: `empty`, `clear`, `size`, etc. To deviate from that convention would be an exercise in confusing the users of your code. You should make a note in the class comment that it deviates from any other project-wide naming scheme because it conforms to the STL container interface, and move on.

But if you're creating a C++ class that is NOT intended to be an STL-like container (or if you're not working in C++!), then I'd argue that it would be better to go with `is_empty` & `make_empty` (if you're applying this prefix naming scheme across the rest of your codebase) for the benefits I've described above.

honkhonkpants9y ago

I think make_clear is just not good style. It conflicts in meaning with std::make_unique, which allocates a std::unique_pointer. When I see make_clear I think it allocates a new, empty object.

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