dbt naming anti-patterns

[jeremyyeo]

See @patkearns10's following dev blog posts for an extensive writeup on why naming is "key":

• https://docs.getdbt.com/blog/on-the-importance-of-naming
• https://docs.getdbt.com/blog/stakeholder-friendly-model-names

And @dbt-labs style guide:

• https://github.com/dbt-labs/corp/blob/main/dbt_style_guide.md

---

Golden rule

snake_case everywhere - all the time - for everything!

Anti-patterns

1. Inconsistent casing / unnecessary capitalization

❌
-- models/MODEL_foo.sql
select 1 as USER_id

-- models/Model_BAR.sql
SELECT 1 as order_ID

✅
-- models/model_foo.sql
select 1 as user_id

-- models/model_bar.sql
select 1 as order_id

✅
-- models/model_foo.sql
SELECT 1 AS user_id

-- models/model_bar.sql
SELECT 1 AS order_id

❌
-- macros/macros.sql
{% macro Foo() %}
  ...
{% endmacro %}

{% macro fooBar() %}
  ...
{% endmacro %}

✅
-- macros/macros.sql
{% macro foo() %}
  ...
{% endmacro %}

{% macro foo_bar() %}
  ...
{% endmacro %}

2. Inconsistent quoting

❌
-- models/model_foo.sql
select 1 as "user_id", 2 as order_id

✅
-- models/model_foo.sql
select 1 as user_id, 2 as order_id

3. Special / reserved characters

❌
-- models/model_foo.sql
select 1 as "from"     -- "from", "group by", etc are reserved keywords.
       , 2 as "/ORDER/ID"

✅
-- models/model_foo.sql
select 1 as user_id
       , 2 as order_id

❌
-- models/model_foo.sql
{{ config(alias='"/DIM/CUSTOMER"') }}
select 1 as user_id

✅
-- models/model_foo.sql
{{ config(alias='dim_customer') }}
select 1 as user_id

4. Spaces in names / identifiers

❌
-- models/my mart.sql
select 1 as user_id

✅
-- models/my_mart.sql
select 1 as user_id

❌
# models/sources.yml
sources:
  - name: src raw

✅
# models/sources.yml
sources:
  - name: src_raw

[patkearns10]

new draft in progress from the proserv hive mind: dbt-labs/corp#63