17. Naming Conventions

The Emacs Lisp programming manual has a great chapter programming conventions that help keep each Emacs package working nicely with the entire system. @xref{(elisp)Standards} An EIEIO based program needs to follow these conventions, while simultaneously taking advantage of the Object Oriented features.

The below tips are things that I do when I program an EIEIO based package.

• Come up with a package prefix that is relatively short. Prefix all classes, and methods with your prefix. This is a standard convention for functions and variables in Emacs.
• Do not prefix method names with the class name. All methods in EIEIO are "virtual", and are dynamically dispatched. Anyone can override your methods at any time. Your methods should be prefixed with your package name.
• Do not prefix slots in your class. The slots are always locally scoped to your class, and need no prefixing.
• If your library inherits from other libraries of classes, you must "require" that library with the require command.