Descriptive Naming
------------------

Most of the modules in ChemApp for Python use a common naming convention. The
only exception to this is the ``basic`` module, which is meant to be a copy of
the original ChemApp :term:`API`. It therefore retains all the naming used in
ChemApp.

The purpose of the naming convention is to ensure that Python code that uses
ChemApp for Python is easily readable and understandable.

The ChemApp for Python naming convention uses a set of one-, two-, and
three-letter abbreviations for frequently used terms. This is shown in the
following table.

+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| Abbreviation | Term               | Abbreviation | Quantity           |
+==============+====================+==============+====================+
| eq           | equilibrium        | A            | amount             |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| mm           | molar mass         | AC           | relative activity  |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| ph           | phase              | CP           | heat capacity      |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| phs          | phases             | E            | energy             |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| pc           | phase constituent  | G            | Gibbs energy       |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| pcs          | phase constituents | H            | enthalpy           |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| sc           | system component   | IA           | incoming amount    |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| scs          | system components  | MU           | chemical potential |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| st           | stream             | P            | pressure           |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| sts          | streams            | S            | entropy            |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| tg           | target             | T            | temperature        |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| tx           | transition         | V            | volume             |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
| txs          | transitions        | VT           | total volume       |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
|              |                    | X            | amount fraction    |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
|              |                    | XT           | mole fraction      |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+
|              |                    | Y            | mass fraction      |
+--------------+--------------------+--------------+--------------------+

These abbreviations are used to create descriptive and easily readable names
for functions and variables. Here are a few examples.

.. code-block:: python

   from chemapp.friendly import ThermochemicalSystem
   from chemapp.friendly import EquilibriumCalculation

   # get the number of system components in the thermochemical system
   ThermochemicalSystem.get_count_scs()

   # get the molar mass of the system component 'Fe'
   mm_Fe = ThermochemicalSystem.get_mm_sc('Fe')

   # set the equilibrium pressure and temperature for a calculation
   EquilibriumCalculation.set_eq_P(1.0)
   EquilibriumCalculation.set_eq_T(1000.0)

   # get the equilibrium amounts of all phases after a calculation
   amounts = EquilibriumCalculation.get_eq_A_phs()

   # get the equilibrium Gibbs energy of a phase after a calculation
   G = EquilibriumCalculation.get_eq_G_ph('gas_ideal')