…(and CSS classes are all about how it presents the content)…

Actually HTML classes aren’t uniquely for presentation.

Don’t forget that using abstract nomenclature is great to make things more “generic”, however it also makes things much harder to understand when you’re looking for something more specific.

Yes, but at the same time, if you tie your code down to presentation, what do you do when that presentation changes? Root around in your code and try to change all of the non-abstract, highly-specific nomenclature that is no longer relevant?
Oh, and thanks for the compliment! :-)

ok, so the example should be something like this:

typedef AbstractFactory (less then) MonsterCreator&, MonstersList (greater then) MonsterFactory

typedef AbstractFactory> MonsterFactory;

nice thought. However I can’t say I completely agree. We are faced with the same problem when it comes to designing classes in code. The name of a class, be it css class or code class, must represent what it does and on what (what data). Data in your case is the html code inside your sidebar.

So, if the content of your sidebar is not easily convertible to any other type of “container”, such as footer or header or what not because it would not display properly (and css classes are all about how it presents the content), then there’s no harm naming it sidebar. Also, if you know your site is not about to change and if it were you’d have to redo it from sratch, then again, “sidebar” is fine.

Don’t forget that using abstract nomenclature is great to make things more “generic”, however it also makes things much harder to understand when you’re looking for something more specific.

I really love the way this works in C++. I’m now learning “generic programming”. And the nomenclature there is to use as generic names as possible. However when you then use this generic class, for a specific purpose, you can create an alias and this alias will have a more specific name. You then use this specific name through the rest of the code. Think of it as “name derivation”. It works wonderfuly.

ex: typedef AbstractFactory MonsterFactory;

now isn’t this just lovely? Any code from then on uses MonsterFactory, which now represents the AbstractFactory with its particular configuration. There is also no doubt as to where MonsterFactory comes from.

Take care and congrats on your great site. I just have to find time to put mine in shape! ;)

It’s sooooo easy to fall into the non-semantic trap. Our brains sometimes just think that way, especially since there are a lot of other things we do where presentation and content are mixed. Take handwriting. Or how most people approach a PowerPoint presentation. Most graphics are this way, too.

Thanks for the wake-up call. I’m off to check my site for these kind of issues!