On a purely technical level, Python names must begin with a letter. They can include any number of letters, digits, and the _ character. Python 3 is based on Unicode, so a letter is not limited to the Latin alphabet. While the A-Z Latin alphabet is commonly used, it's not required.
When creating a descriptive variable, we want to create names that are both specific and articulate the relationships among things in our programs. One widely used technique is to create longer names in a style that moves from particular to general.
The steps to choosing a name are as follows:
- The last part of the name is a very broad summary of the thing. In a few cases, this may be all we need; context will supply the rest. We'll suggest ...
