Effective Naming for Code Clarity
Readers shouldn’t have to translate your names into familiar terms. Avoid using ambiguous terms and choose meaningful names from the problem or solution domain. A good name should be pronounceable and reflect its scope.
Classes and objects should have noun or noun phrase names like Customer, WikiPage, Account, and AddressParser, primarily when representing the domain’s core concepts. Choosing good names requires descriptive skills and a shared cultural background. Test code is essential and should be as clear and concise as production code. Use testing APIs as a domain-specific language to ease test writing. To meet deadlines and go fast, keep the code clean at all times. Customers now demand faster delivery and lower costs, which can lead to compromised outcomes. Limiting project scope improves feedback and software quality. It focuses on delivering long-term value at a lower cost and can also be seen as the “elimination” phase.
In XP, Kent Beck expanded the model to include scope. “Better” was chosen as the fixed development point, although the market may disagree. It’s unprofessional for programmers to bend to managers’ will without understanding the risks. Clean code is simple and direct and expresses requirements using specific guidelines. Clean code should be literate and cut dependencies while providing a straightforward API.
