Naming Convention #
Due to the technical nature associated with CAD and advanced programming, it is easy to fall into the trap of using terminology that is either overly descriptive or seems obvious as a developer but is obscure to the layman. Additionally, with so many functions at a user’s disposal within FreeCAD, screen space comes at a high premium, and text strings can quickly change a UI/UX from being concise and efficient to awkwark and unpleasant. The following guidelines should be considered when naming/labeling functions, features and other various addons.
NOTE: This area is highly subjective as FreeCAD is translated into many languages, however english is considered the standard by which naming will be assessed. It will be up to various translators to best adhere to these guidlines as best as possible.
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Use the shortest descriptive words possible for a function. Single words are preferred, however this will not always be possible.
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Broadly accepted and understood acronyms can be used in place of full words, however, these should be scrutinized closely by the design and development teams to avoid obscure references.
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Avoid using common programming terms, preference should be given towards more plain language words.
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For concepts already used within FreeCAD, use the same wording so those concepts remain consistent wherever possible.
Efforts should be made to conserve space within the UI in order to prevent elements from needing to be resized from workbench-to-workbench or dialog-to-dialog. Word choices should be reviewed before merging a pull-request with text elements in the GUI.