Quote:Original post by NCLR
I have question in regarding c++.
iam trying to make a 'library' prog using a switch statement to do the following things :-
1) To enter books into library
2) To display them
3) To delete any one of them
4) To issue a book (just by asking the user various information such as name,library card number,book's name,author's name etc...)
5) To display them
6) To delete any one of them
7) Search for a book

Its a project which iam doing for school.
I used a class for enetring and displaying.Deleting i can do in 'void main()'.
i want these information saved "permenantly" in a file.But i dont how to that.
any suggesstions anyone?

Quote:Original post by Zahlman
P.S. 'addition' sounds wrong as a function name. Consider either 'add' (imperative) or 'sum' (descriptive of the result, rather than the process).

• be descriptive and close to your subject: if the function is performing an addition, naming it do_something_with_two_integers() won't really help, unless do_something is a recognized idiomatic replacement for perform_an_addition. If your function's goal is to compute your debt rate, don't call it divide() (even if the forumla is, in the end, a simple division) but compute_debt_rate().


• deal with the goal of your action, not the way you are doing it: the way you are doing things is called implementation details in our software design jargon. Implementation details might change, but the goal of the function is not likely to change. For example, find_substing_in_string() might be implemented using different algorithms, but the goal is still to find a substring in a bigger string.


• use verbs when it make sense: most of the time, your function will perform an action. As a consequence, the imperative form is a good way to express the goal of this action - at least, it is better than a noun, because nouns describe things, not actions. Hence Zahlman's advice: use add() instead of addition().
  Of course, Zahlman is also true when it gives sum() as another possible name for addition(). Instead of using verbs, you may also be able to use nouns if this noun describe the result of the action (and not the action itself). For example, debt_rate() or position_of_substring_in_string() are good potential function names. However, this can only be true for functions that return something (let's be logic here: how can I describe the result of a function if the function don't have any result? it don't make much sense [smile])


• sometimes, a verb is not enough: don't be afraid of putting a more detailed description in your function name. compute() is a little too simple, while compute_income() is more descritpive. In general, you should not be affraid of long function names, even if you should try to be concise (because very long function name (>60 char for example) are hard to read and can be a mess in your code). 30+ chars function names are not that ugly, and the editor you'll use is likely to support auto-completion (like VS2005 intellisense) which will ease typing.