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 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.

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')