- In keeping with my decision to put my reference material online to make them easier to share and to build my "build in public" habit, here is a quick dump of my notes on naming files...I have other notes that I should add here too - First, go read this: - https://github.com/jennybc/how-to-name-files - Then, some of my own preferences: - Preferred file format: - File-Name_File-Variation_Project-SubName_Project-MainName_date-time - E.g. Financial-model_With-depreciation_SouthSide_Proj-Joburg_24-05-02-2027 - This is optimised for a balance between working memory and long term retrieval - So File-Name comes first followed by variation: - This is so when you have all your files open (E.g. Excel files) and you hover over the Excel icon in the task bar, then you can tell which file you're dealing with quickly (working memory) - This is also why date-time comes at the end. If at the start then it takes up valuable real estate (humans read left to right) - Of course this sacrifices automatic chronology, but its a trade off I make (fwiw sorting by modified can help solve this trade-off a bit, but I never use it) - It also includes sub project and project names. This doesn't help working memory, but long term it helps to be able to tell what a file might be without opening it. - avoid spaces: - Do even moderately complex stuff and you will come across messages like this: - (something from PyPSA-ZA) - ![[Pasted image 20240502211226.png]] - Avoid dots = the thing that comes after the dot to me is the file type - Trade-off between long date and short date: - 2024-05-02_2030 and 240502-2030 - One is more readable, but extends file name and therefore file path (4 chars longer each time) - Optional metadata: - Initials: - E.g. Distribution-Map_With-Colour_IV-Comments_StreetView_ProjectA_240502-2036.image - Delimiter hierarchy: - CamelCase is lowest - Followed by dashes - - Followed by underscores _ - Try to condense commonly used terms: - E.g. Fin-model for Financial-Model , Proj for Project - double-digit usage for folders: - E.g. 01_Onboarding - Occasional Reserve folder