I disagree, depending on the context. Data is an acceptable variable name to refer to binary blobs that don't have a type, eg, this is roughly the low level class that holds data that I'm streaming in (files may either be in a pack file or downloaded while the game is played):
class packFile {
var name:String;
var location:String;
var downloadPriority:Int;
var data:Array<Byte>;
}
There may be a better name than data, but I can't think of one off the top of my head, and it's certainly not a bad one.
Another example: in my work group, "data" specifically means "measurements made in the real world." Numbers generated by a computer simulation don't qualify. So in our code, "data" could be a perfectly meaningful variable name.
Personally, the worst variable name I've ever seen was "C". This was a vector of concentrations. Unfortunately, the language was Fortran-77-- where a "C" in column 1 indicates a comment line.
Wow, I think you actually may have won. That's a terrible name for a variable given the context. You would probably have nightmares for years after maintaining a project like that :)
class packFile { var name:String; var location:String; var downloadPriority:Int; var data:Array<Byte>; }
There may be a better name than data, but I can't think of one off the top of my head, and it's certainly not a bad one.