Naming Conventions — GDScript

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Definition. A naming convention is an agreed set of rules by which to name source code elements such as variables, functions, classes, methods and objects. (Camel case: each word after the first starts with a capital. Snake case: words joined with underscores. Hungarian notation: the name encodes purpose and type.)

C7-1 is one ladder: each level applies the convention to more kinds of element. In the validation Part B naming audit you state your convention, then fix non-compliant names live.

The Godot house convention

This is the convention every studied project uses — and the one Godot's own style guide recommends.

C711 — Identify your convention

Level 1–2 is stating the rules, in internal documentation, before applying them:

# C711 — naming conventions in this project:
# variables and functions snake_case; constants UPPER_SNAKE_CASE;
# classes and nodes PascalCase; signals snake_case, past tense

Earns the tick: the convention written down where the marker can find it. In the naming audit, this is the sentence you open with.

C721 — Variables

Bad names hide meaning; the fix is descriptive snake_case:

# ✗ before — earns no C721: the names hide the meaning
var b := 20.00      # what is b?
var f := 5.30       # what is f?

var balance: float = 20.00   # C721 — descriptive snake_case
var fare: float = 5.30       # C721
var is_concession := false   # C721 — booleans read as yes/no questions

In the studied projects: pairs_to_find, is_busy, flip_back_delay (tile-matching-game); points_for_win, team_name (club-ladder). Every boolean starts is_ — the name reads as the question the code asks.

Magic numbers are a naming problem too. A bare 0.5 says nothing; a named constant says everything:

# ✗ before — magic number, earns no C721
fare = FARE_TABLE[zone] * 0.5              # what is 0.5?

const CONCESSION_DISCOUNT := 0.5           # C721 — the rule now has a name
fare = FARE_TABLE[zone] * CONCESSION_DISCOUNT

Earns the tick: no single-letter names (a loop i is fine), booleans as is_/has_ questions, magic numbers replaced by named constants.

C731 — Interface controls

Name every Control node purpose + control type, in PascalCase:

NameField    (LineEdit)     ← what it holds + what it is
AddButton    (Button)
TitleLabel   (Label)
WarningLabel (Label)

Those four are club-ladder's real scene — the name tells you what the control does before you click it. The anti-pattern is Godot's defaults left in place: Button1, LineEdit, Label2.

# C731 — controls named purpose + type, so the code reads in English
%AddButton.pressed.connect(_on_add_pressed)
name_field.text = ""

Earns the tick: every control in the picked feature's scene named this way — the audit will open your scene tree and look.

C741 — Code structures

Functions get action verbs; classes get PascalCase nouns:

# ✗ before — earns no C741: the name says nothing
func f(x):            # what does f do?

func calculate_fare(zone: int) -> float:   # C741 — verb says what it does

class_name MykiCard   # C741 — PascalCase noun, a clear concept

In the studied projects: load_csv(), mark_matched(), start_new_game() (tile-matching-game); class_name Team, Season, Ladder (club-ladder) — every function name is a verb phrase, every class a noun.

C751 — All solution elements

Level 9–10 extends the convention to everything that has a name: signals, scenes, files, autoloads — consistently, throughout.

# club-ladder — the convention on every element kind
signal result_recorded(team: Team, result: String)   # C751 — signal: past tense
signal remove_requested(team: Team)                  # C751
# files: team_row.gd, season.gd — snake_case
# scenes: main.tscn, team_row.tscn — snake_case

Earns the tick: open any file in the project and the convention holds — variables, constants, functions, classes, nodes, signals, files. One inconsistent corner (studentName beside student_id) drops you back.

Check Your Understanding

1. What convention does a Godot node (interface control) use, and what two things should its name say?

2. Why is fare * 0.5 a naming problem, and what is the fix?

3. What separates C751 from C741?