Timeline for answer to Is it bad to use Unicode characters in variable names? by Lie Ryan
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
Post Revisions
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 2020 at 21:56 | comment | added | quant_dev | "every programmers worth his salt" or her ;-) | |
| Aug 8, 2016 at 19:32 | comment | added | gerrit |
If I'm working in a scientific context where I'm clearly doing something related to wavelength, then λ_a and λ_b may be more readable for physicists than wavelength_a and wavelength_b, in particular if both occur repeatedly in a long equation. There are good reasons why mathematicians and physicists prefer single-character symbols, possibly subscripted.
|
|
| Nov 21, 2012 at 0:58 | comment | added | TRiG | Well, anyone working in anything related to statistics knows that σ means "standard deviation". It's a very well known standard symbol in that domain. | |
| Nov 1, 2010 at 16:54 | comment | added | Konrad Rudolph | Yes. This. Unfortunately, I overlooked it when writing my answer. | |
| Nov 1, 2010 at 16:36 | comment | added | Lie Ryan | @badp: To be honest, with just that information, that sigma refers to some fudge factor (so to speak), it gives me slightly better understanding of the formula than what sigma strikes me. When the formula is hard to understand to begin with, you don't want to add more opaqueness on top of it. | |
| Nov 1, 2010 at 15:40 | comment | added | Lie Ryan |
@badp: Long names != Good names. Nevertheless, there are occasions where it is impossible for you to choose a good name (e.g. when you only understand the formula, but don't fully comprehend what each parts of the formula do (which takes a wholly different level of comprehension)), then in that case, the second best alternative is to cover up your ass with some comments (better than sending them off to an external paper). Add a data dictionary that explains what the variable names refers to, e.g. // σw = skill level measurement error, etc
|
|
| Nov 1, 2010 at 15:33 | comment | added | badp |
To be honest, the formulas here do not make more sense even if I were to use error_on_measured_skill_with_99th_percent_confidence instead of sigma.
|
|
| Nov 1, 2010 at 15:23 | history | edited | Lie Ryan | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
added 247 characters in body; deleted 1 characters in body
|
| Nov 1, 2010 at 15:17 | history | edited | Lie Ryan | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
added 500 characters in body; added 25 characters in body; added 107 characters in body
|
| Nov 1, 2010 at 15:00 | history | edited | Lie Ryan | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
added 308 characters in body; added 194 characters in body
|
| Nov 1, 2010 at 14:50 | history | answered | Lie Ryan | CC BY-SA 2.5 |