Why use prefixes on member variables in C++ classes

Question

A lot of C++ code uses syntactical conventions for marking up member variables. Common examples include

• m_memberName for public members (where public

Answer 1

I think that, if you need prefixes to distinguish class members from member function parameters and local variables, either the function is too big or the variables are badly named. If it doesn't fit on the screen so you can easily see what is what, refactor.

Given that they often are declared far from where they are used, I find that naming conventions for global constants (and global variables, although IMO there's rarely ever a need to use those) make sense. But otherwise, I don't see much need.

That said, I used to put an underscore at the end of all private class members. Since all my data is private, this implies members have a trailing underscore. I usually don't do this anymore in new code bases, but since, as a programmer, you mostly work with old code, I still do this a lot. I'm not sure whether my tolerance for this habit comes from the fact that I used to do this always and am still doing it regularly or whether it really makes more sense than the marking of member variables.