Magento 2: good names reveal intent

Foreword

The best names are those that reveal the intent.

At date, Magento 2 codebase is still full of legacy code, thus don’t always take it as a good reference.

Observers, plugins, service classes

When naming observers, plugins, and service classes, choose a name that reveal intent.

Here follow some examples.

Observer

Bad

// events.xml
<event name="store_save_after">
    <observer name="store-save-observer" instance="…/Observer/StoreSaveObserver" />
</event>

Good

// events.xml
<event name="store_save_after">
    <observer name="duplicate-store" instance="…/Observer/DuplicateStore" />
</event>

Plugin

Bad

<!-- di.xml -->
<type name="Magento\Theme\Block\Html\Topmenu">
  <plugin name="catalogTopmenu" type="...\Plugin\Topmenu" />
</type>

// .../Plugin/Topmenu.php
class Topmenu
{
    // ...
    public function beforeGetHtml(/* ... */)
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Good

<!-- di.xml -->
<type name="Magento\Theme\Block\Html\Topmenu">
    <plugin name="build-category-tree" type="...\Plugin\BuildCategoryTree" />
</type>

// .../Plugin/BuildCategoryTree.php
class BuildCategoryTree
{
    // ...
    public function beforeGetHtml(/* ... */)
    {
        // ...
    }
}    

Service class

Bad

class ProductTypeList
{
    public function getProductTypes() 
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Good

class GetProductTypes
{
    public function execute()
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Commands and events

A command is something that has to be done, thus better use an imperative verb (e.g.: doSomething).

An event is something that’s happened in the past, thus better use a past tense verb (e.g.: somethingHappened).

~~If you look at how events are named in Magento 2, they often break this rule (e.g.: store_save_after is used instead of store_saved).~~ See Vinai’s comment below.

Off-topic note

Commits are commands, that’s why commit messages should be written using imperative verbs.

Enjoy!

Photo credits: Lesly Juarez - Creative Commons license

Posted with : magento2, best-practices, observers, plugins, service-classes