Canonical method names for Java: using implementation semantics to identify synonymous verbs

Authors:
Einar W. Høst;Bjarte M. Østvold
Affiliations:
Computas AS;Norwegian Computing Center
Venue:
SLE'10 Proceedings of the Third international conference on Software language engineering
Year:
2010

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Abstract

Programmers rely on the conventional meanings of method names when writing programs. However, these conventional meanings are implicit and vague, leading to various forms of ambiguity. This is problematic since it hurts the readability and maintainability of programs. Java programmers would benefit greatly from a more well-defined vocabulary. Identifying synonyms in the vocabulary of verbs used in method names is a step towards this goal. By rooting the meaning of verbs in the semantics of a large number of methods taken from real-world Java applications, we find that such synonyms can readily be identified. To support our claims, we demonstrate automatic identification of synonym candidates. This could be used as a starting point for a manual canonicalisation process, where redundant verbs are eliminated from the vocabulary.