What is a good naming convention for vars, methods, etc in C++?

Do whatever you want as long as its minimal, consistent, and doesn't break any rules.

Personally, I find the Boost style easiest; it matches the standard library (giving a uniform look to code) and is simple. I personally tack on m and p prefixes to members and parameters, respectively, giving:

#ifndef NAMESPACE_NAMES_THEN_PRIMARY_CLASS_OR_FUNCTION_THEN_HPP
#define NAMESPACE_NAMES_THEN_PRIMARY_CLASS_OR_FUNCTION_THEN_HPP

#include <boost/headers/go/first>
#include <boost/in_alphabetical/order>
#include <then_standard_headers>
#include <in_alphabetical_order>

#include "then/any/detail/headers"
#include "in/alphabetical/order"
#include "then/any/remaining/headers/in"
// (you'll never guess)
#include "alphabetical/order/duh"

#define NAMESPACE_NAMES_THEN_MACRO_NAME(pMacroNames) ARE_ALL_CAPS

namespace lowercase_identifers
{
    class separated_by_underscores
    {
    public:
        void because_underscores_are() const
        {
            volatile int mostLikeSpaces = 0; // but local names are condensed

            while (!mostLikeSpaces)
                single_statements(); // don't need braces

            for (size_t i = 0; i < 100; ++i)
            {
                but_multiple(i);
                statements_do();
            }             
        }

        const complex_type& value() const
        {
            return mValue; // no conflict with value here
        }

        void value(const complex_type& pValue)
        {
            mValue = pValue ; // or here
        }

    protected:
        // the more public it is, the more important it is,
        // so order: public on top, then protected then private

        template <typename Template, typename Parameters>
        void are_upper_camel_case()
        {
            // gman was here                
        }

    private:
        complex_type mValue;
    };
}

#endif

That. (And like I've said in comments, do not adopt the Google Style Guide for your code, unless it's for something as inconsequential as naming convention.)

We follow the guidelines listed on this page: C++ Programming Style Guidelines

---

I'd also recommend you read The Elements of C++ Style by Misfeldt et al, which is quite an excellent book on this topic.

There are probably as many naming conventions as there are individuals, the debate being as endless (and sterile) as to which brace style to use and so forth.

So I'll have 2 advices:

• be consistent within a project
• don't use reserved identifiers (anything with two underscores or beginning with an underscore followed by an uppercase letter)

The rest is up to you.

I actually often use Java style: PascalCase for type names, camelCase for functions and variables, CAPITAL_WORDS for preprocessor macros. I prefer that over the Boost/STL conventions because you don't have to suffix types with _type. E.g.

Size size();

instead of

size_type size();   // I don't like suffixes

This has the additional benefit that the StackOverflow code formatter recognizes Size as a type name ;-)