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🔤 Python Variable Naming – Best Practices for Clean & Readable Code

💡 What Are Variable Names in Python?

In Python, variables are identifiers that store values. Choosing the right variable name is crucial for readability, maintainability, and debugging. Whether you’re writing a simple script or building an entire application, well-named variables improve code quality dramatically.

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✅ Rules for Naming Python Variables

Python variable names follow specific rules. Breaking these rules will result in syntax errors.

✅ Legal variable names:

myvar = "John"
my_var = "John"
_my_var = "John"
myVar = "John"
MYVAR = "John"
myvar2 = "John"

❌ Illegal variable names:

2myvar = "John"     # Starts with a number
my-var = "John"     # Contains a hyphen
my var = "John"     # Contains a space

🔒 Python Variable Naming Rules Summary

• Must start with a letter (a–z, A–Z) or an underscore (_)
• Cannot start with a number
• Can only contain letters, digits, and underscores
• Are case-sensitive (MyVar, myvar, and MYVAR are different)
• Cannot use Python reserved keywords like if, while, class, etc.

Use this quick reference to stay on track!

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🔡 Multi-Word Variable Naming Styles

When your variable needs to be more descriptive (e.g., totalMarks, studentScore, etc.), here are 3 standard naming conventions used in Python:

1. Camel Case

Each word, except the first, starts with a capital letter.

studentName = "Alice"
totalMarks = 95

2. Pascal Case

Each word starts with a capital letter (often used in class names).

StudentName = "Alice"
TotalMarks = 95

3. Snake Case (Recommended in Python) 🐍

Words are separated by underscores. This is the preferred style in Python for variable names and function names.

student_name = "Alice"
total_marks = 95

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💬 GoNimbus Tips:

• ✅ Always choose meaningful and descriptive variable names.
• 🚫 Avoid cryptic names like x1, a, temp123 unless necessary.
• 🎯 Follow PEP 8 – Python’s official style guide, which recommends snake_case for variables.

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🧪 Try It Yourself!

Use our GoNimbus Python Editor to practice declaring and using variables with different naming conventions:

first_name = "John"
last_name = "Doe"
age = 25

print(first_name, last_name, age)

💥 Instant output. Live syntax highlighting. Beginner-friendly!

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