Naming conventions: "State" versus "Status" [closed]

Question

Quick question: I'd like to hear your thoughts on when to use "State" versus "Status" when naming both fields such as "Foo.currentState" vs "Foo.status" and types, like "enum FooState" vs "enum FooStatus". Is there a convention discussed out there? Should we only use one? If so which one, and if not, how should we choose?

Answer 1

IMO:

status == how are you? [good/bad]

state == what are you doing? [resting/working]

Answer 2

It depends on the context

State generally refers to the entire state of an entity - all its values and relationships at a particular point in time (usually, current)

Status is more of a time-point, say, where something is at in a process or workflow - is it dirty (therefore requiring saving), is it complete, is it pending input, etc

I hope that helps you in your decision.

Answer 3

Typically I will use State to mean the current condition of an object or the system as a whole. I use status to represent the outcome of some action. For example, the state of an object may be saved/unsaved, valid/invalid. The status (outcome) of a method is successful/unsuccessful/error. I think this jibes pretty well with the definition of status as "state or condition with respect to circumstances," the circumstances in this case being the application of an action/method.

Answer 4

Another (entirely pragmatic) reason to prefer state over status is that the plural is straightforward:

• state -> states
• status -> statuses

And believe me, you will sooner or later have a list or array or whatever of states in your code and will have to name the variable.

Answer 5

I think many people use "Status" to represent the state of an object if for no other reason than "State" refers to a political division of the United States.

Answer 6

I think you could add another perspective to the equation, namely 'sender-requester'.

From a senders perspective, I'd communicate my state with anyone willing to listen. While from a requesters perspective, I'd be asking for someone's status.

The above could also be interpreted from an uncertainty point of view:

• Defined = state
• Undefined = status

What's your status? I'm in a relaxed state.

I'm pretty sure this is just one interpretation, which may not apply to your particular situation.

Answer 7

A quick dictionary check reveals that status is a synonym for state, but has an additional interpretation of a position relative to that of others.

So I would use state for a set of states that don't have any implicit ordering or position relative to one another, and status for those that do (perhaps off-standby-on ?). But it's a fine distinction.

Answer 8

A lot of the entities I deal with (accounts, customers) may have a State (TX, VA, etc.) and a Status (Active, Closed, etc.)

So the point about the term being misleading is possible. We have a standardized database naming convention (not my personal choice) where a state is named ST_CD and a status would be ACCT_STAT_CD.

With an enum in an OO milieux, this issue is not as important, since if you have strict type safety, the compiler will ensure that no one attempts to do this:

theCustomer.State = Customer.Status.Active;

If you are in a dynamic environment, I would be more worried!

If you are dealing with a domain where state machines or other state information and that terminology is predominant, then I would think State is perfectly fine.