Naming Conventions

Naming Conventions

Consistent, role-carrying names make code searchable and self-explaining, and the suffix on a type declares which layer it lives in — so a reviewer, a grep, and a banned-import gate can all read the layer off the name alone. This skill is the how; the normative what is Effective Dart. Never invent a house style that contradicts the language's own.

Non-negotiable rules

1. Types are UpperCamelCase. Classes, enums, mixins, extensions, typedefs, type parameters: TaskScreen, OrderStatus, Predicate<T>. Consistent shape makes types visually distinct from values.
2. Members, variables, functions, and parameters are lowerCamelCase. dueDate, loadTasks(), itemCount. It is the language default; deviating costs readers a double-take.
3. Constants are lowerCamelCase, never SCREAMING_CAPS. const maxItemsPerPage = 50; — not const MAX_ITEMS = 50. Dart dropped the C convention; the analyzer expects constant_identifier_names.
4. Files, folders, libraries, and import prefixes are lowercase_with_underscores. task_detail_screen.dart, features/task_detail/, import 'package:app_core/app_core.dart';. Cross-platform filesystems and pub demand it.
5. File name = its primary declaration, snake_cased, one primary public type per file. TaskNotifier lives in task_notifier.dart. No utils.dart/helpers.dart/models.dart grab-bags and no utils//common//helpers//misc/ junk-drawer folders — a reader who greps a symbol must land in the file that owns it. core/ is the sanctioned pure-foundation layer (value objects, Result/Failure, the Clock seam, pure calculators), not a junk-drawer — see project-structure-and-packages, which owns the layout.
6. Acronyms longer than two letters are cased like a word. Json, Http, Url, Api → JsonOrder, HttpClient, fromJson, imageUrl — not JSONOrder, HTTPClient. Two-letter caps-in-English acronyms may stay caps as types (ID, UI). Mixed-case acronyms are unsearchable and inconsistent.
7. A leading underscore means library-private — use it only when you mean private. Never prefix a public symbol with _ to "namespace" it; that makes it unusable from another file. Public (no _) is a documented contract — see dartdoc-conventions.
8. No Hungarian / type-encoding in names. Not strName, iCount, lstItems, userMap, nameString, itemsList. The type system already knows the type; write name, usersById, items.
9. Full dictionary words; units and semantics live in the name. maxItemsPerPage, retryDelaySeconds, orderTotalMinorUnits — never bare max, delay, total. Abbreviations (opt, qty, amt) are confined to the inside of one short pure function with a comment mapping them. A name that omits its unit invites a unit bug.
10. Booleans read as assertions. isLoading, hasError, canSubmit, shouldRetry — not loading, error, retry. Boolean getters and methods start is/has/can/should so a condition reads like prose.
11. No get-prefixed accessors. Expose dueTasks, not getDueTasks(). Dart has real getters. Functions are verb phrases (loadTasks(), scheduleReminder()); non-boolean getters are noun phrases (itemCount, nextDueDate).
12. Imports grouped and sorted: dart: first, then package:, then relative — each group alphabetized, exports in their own section after imports. Let dart format plus the directives_ordering lint enforce it; never hand-fight the formatter.

The suffix declares the layer

A role suffix turns a name into a layer contract: a grep or a path-scoped import gate can tell a repository from a view from a platform boundary without opening the file. Use neutral domain nouns (Task, Order, Account, Item) for the entity token.

• Notifier is the ViewModel role — never ViewModel or ChangeNotifier in the type name. On Riverpod 3.x the ViewModel is a Notifier/AsyncNotifier/StreamNotifier, one per Screen, 1:1, named [Feature]Notifier in [feature]_notifier.dart (file = primary declaration). [Feature]ViewModel in [feature]_view_model.dart is sanctioned ONLY in the Provider/ChangeNotifier appendix — never on the Riverpod path, and never [Feature]Controller. See state-management-riverpod.
• Service vs Gateway — both name provider-free boundary ports, distinguished by who owns the contract. A [Concern]Service is a capability interface YOU define (ShareService, AnalyticsService); a [Concern]Gateway is the thin wrapper over a SPECIFIC external plugin/SDK or native MethodChannel (NotificationGateway over flutter_local_notifications, SecureStorageGateway over flutter_secure_storage). Domain and UI code names the interface; the concrete impl (FirebaseAnalyticsService, FlnNotificationGateway) lives only in the composition root. A concrete impl name leaking into shared code is a grep-catchable smell. See service-boundary-and-native.
• Pure-Dart types carry a Calculator/Validator/Formatter/Parser verb suffix and touch no Flutter. The suffix advertises that the type is framework-free and unit-testable without a widget.
• Match the domain's ubiquitous language and keep it consistent everywhere — one word per concept across models, repositories, and UI, so search finds every reference.

Value vs. instant, and other name-carried distinctions

Encode a semantic distinction the type system can't in the name. A raw instant (DateTime.now()) used where a stable calendar value is expected is a common correctness bug; naming makes the boundary visible.

// A real wall-clock instant is legal only at the Clock boundary and named as one.
final DateTime capturedAt = clock.now();      // instant, from package:clock's Clock (never DateTime.now())

// A stored quantity carries its canonical unit in the name.
final int priceMinorUnits;                    // not `price` — unit is explicit
final int distanceMeters;                     // SI base unit, integer

// Unused callback params are `_` (and `__` for a second).
onChanged: (_) => notifier.refresh(),

See value-objects-money-and-units for canonical storage and service-boundary-and-native for the Clock (from package:clock) injected via clockProvider — never a bespoke ClockService.

Worked example

// task_list_notifier.dart — file name == primary declaration, snake_cased
import 'dart:async'; // dart: group, alphabetized

import 'package:flutter_riverpod/flutter_riverpod.dart'; // package: group, alphabetized

import 'task.dart'; // relative group, alphabetized

/// Frozen paging bound — unit lives in the name (rule 9).
const int maxItemsPerPage = 50; // lowerCamelCase const, not SCREAMING_CAPS

/// ViewModel for [TaskListScreen]. One Notifier per Screen, 1:1 (role suffix).
class TaskListNotifier extends AsyncNotifier<List<Task>> {
  @override
  Future<List<Task>> build() => ref.watch(taskRepositoryProvider).loadTasks();

  /// Verb-phrase command; routes through the repository's single write path.
  Future<void> archive(String taskId) async {
    await ref.read(taskRepositoryProvider).archive(taskId);
    ref.invalidateSelf();
  }

  bool get hasTasks => state.valueOrNull?.isNotEmpty ?? false; // boolean assertion
  int get taskCount => state.valueOrNull?.length ?? 0;          // noun getter, no get- prefix
}

Anti-patterns

• SCREAMING_CAPS constants in new Dart (const MAX_ITEMS = 50) — use lowerCamelCase; the analyzer flags it.
• Class name ≠ file name (TaskScreen living in home.dart), or a grab-bag utils.dart/models.dart holding unrelated things — breaks grep-to-file.
• Naming a Flutter-touching type …Calculator/…Validator (a pure-Dart suffix), or a Riverpod ViewModel …ViewModel/…VM/…Controller — the suffix then lies about the layer (…Notifier on the Riverpod path; …ViewModel only in the Provider appendix).
• A concrete impl name (FlnNotificationGateway, FirebaseAnalyticsService) referenced from shared/domain code — name the Gateway/Service interface; the impl belongs in the composition root.
• DateTime.now() captured into a field meant to be stable, or an unnamed instant crossing into domain logic — inject a Clock and name the instant (capturedAt).
• getDueTasks() / get/set prefixes — Dart has real getters.
• Type baked into a name: userMap, nameString, itemsList, strName, iCount.
• Booleans without is/has/can/should (loading, valid); unit-silent quantities (total, delay).
• Leading _ to "namespace" a public symbol (it makes it private and unreachable); l/O/I single letters or data/temp/foo in committed code.
• Abbreviations (opt, qty, msg) outside a single short function with a mapping comment.
• Hand-sorted or mixed import groups — run dart format; obey directives_ordering.

Definition of done

• Types UpperCamelCase; members/vars/constants lowerCamelCase; files/folders/prefixes lower_snake_case.
• File name matches its primary declaration; one primary public type per file; no junk-drawer file or folder.
• Architectural suffix applied and correct for the layer (Screen/Notifier/Repository/Dao/Service/Gateway/Failure).
• Riverpod ViewModels are …Notifier (not …Controller/…ViewModel/…VM); pure-Dart types carry a Calculator/Validator/Formatter suffix and no Flutter import; Service/Gateway interfaces are provider-free with impls confined to the composition root.
• Acronyms >2 letters word-cased; full dictionary words; units + semantics in the name; instants named at the Clock boundary.
• Booleans read as assertions; functions are verb phrases; getters are noun phrases with no get prefix.
• Imports grouped dart:/package:/relative and alphabetized; dart format + dart analyze --fatal-infos clean.

Related skills

• dart3-idioms-and-coding-standards — which construct (sealed/record/enum) each declaration earns, and complexity limits.
• state-management-riverpod — why the ViewModel is a Notifier, and the single write path.
• service-boundary-and-native — provider-free Service interfaces and their composition-root impls.
• value-objects-money-and-units — canonical-unit storage behind the unit-in-name rule.
• naming neighbors: dartdoc-conventions for the /// contract on public symbols, lint-and-style-config for the directives_ordering/constant_identifier_names enforcement, and flutter-architecture for the layer DAG the suffixes map to.

References

• Effective Dart: Style — casing, file names, import ordering (normative).
• Effective Dart: Design — naming — booleans, getters vs. methods, verb/noun phrasing.
• Dart linter rules — constant_identifier_names, camel_case_types, file_names, directives_ordering, non_constant_identifier_names.