Ruby Naming Convention > Variable Naming
snake_case
- Should be all in lowercase
- Not begin with the special characters like e.g. & (ampersand), $ (dollar)
- If the name contains multiple words, it should be separated by underscores (_) e.g. json_string
- Avoid one-character variables e.g. a, b
- Clear and descriptive variable names without abbreviations are preferred.
first_name = "Hanz"
The above is an example of a local variable.
Instance variables are prefixed with an '@' and are used in Ruby classes as show below.
class Student
def initialize(name)
@name = name
end
Other prefixes include '$' for global variables, and '@@' for class variables. But when possible, instance and local variables are preferred.