As a curator and a coder, I know it is essential to use naming conventions. It is important to employ a consistent approach when naming digital files or software components such as modules or variables. However, when a student assistant asked me recently why it was important not to use spaces in our image file names, I struggled to come up with an answer. “Because I said so,” while tempting, is not really an acceptable response. Why, in fact, is this important? For this blog entry, I set out to answer this question and to see if, along the way, I could develop an “elevator pitch” – a short spiel on the reasoning behind file naming conventions.
A. Goodman, A. Pepe, A. Blocker, C. Borgman, K. Cranmer, M. Crosas, R. Di Stefano, Y. Gil, P. Groth, M. Hedstrom and 5 other author(s). (2014)cite arxiv:1401.2134Comment: Accepted in PLOS Computational Biology. This paper was written collaboratively, on the web, in the open, using Authorea. The living version of this article, which includes sources and history, is available at http://www.authorea.com/3410/.