The effect of identifier naming on source code readability and quality

  • Authors:

  • Simon Butler

  • Affiliations:

  • The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the doctoral symposium for ESEC/FSE on Doctoral symposium
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

Identifier names are natural language representations of program concepts in source code, which play an important role in program comprehension. Ill-considered, or poor quality, identifier names may hinder program comprehension, but is it possible they may also indicate problems in the source code, including bugs? We outline methods used to evaluate identifier quality, and propose the development of a more sophisticated understanding of identifier name quality, which will facilitate further exploration of the possible implications of poor quality identifier names.