useful coding conventions

naming things: the case for snake case

"Things" can be anything from a file or folder name to the name of a single variable name. In coding, and in work in general, you have to come up with names for stuff constantly. The first guide should usually be the style guide of the language you are working in (for example, see the python style guide).

For anything where your language's style guide leaves you alone (or that is not in a language with a style guide), we recommend using snake_case or lower_case_with_underscores as a general rule. Names are very easy to read, because words are clearly separated; and you'll never have to think twice which letter was capitalized.

Also, don't abbreviate unnecessarily. Typing out a longer variable name is usually something that your integrated development environment (IDE) will do for you (if you're not very quick at it anyway)---what it can't do for you, is remember what the heck that particular variable s stands for...