"Identifier names"

An Approach to Automatically Assess Method Names

An approach is presented to automatically assess the quality of method names by providing a score and feedback. The approach implements ten method naming standards to evaluate the names. The naming standards are taken from work that validated the …

Understanding Digits in Identifier Names: An Exploratory Study

Before any software maintenance can occur, developers must read the identifier names found in the code to be maintained. Thus, high-quality identifier names are essential for productive program comprehension and maintenance activities. With …

IDEAL: An Open-Source Identifier Name Appraisal Tool

Developers must comprehend the code they will maintain, meaning that the code must be legible and reasonably self-descriptive. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of research and tooling that supports developers in understanding their naming …

Using Grammar Patterns to Interpret Test Method Name Evolution

It is good practice to name test methods such that they are comprehensible to developers; they must be written in such a way that their purpose and functionality are clear to those who will maintain them. Unfortunately, there is little automated …

Contextualizing rename decisions using refactorings, commit messages, and data types

Identifier names are the atoms of program comprehension. Weak identifier names decrease developer productivity and degrade the performance of automated approaches that leverage identifier names in source code analysis; threatening many of the …

Contextualizing Rename Decisions using Refactorings and Commit Messages

Identifier names are the atoms of comprehension; weak identifier names decrease productivity by increasing the chance that developers make mistakes and increasing the time taken to understand chunks of code. Therefore, it is vital to support …

Modeling the Relationship Between Identifier Name and Behavior

This paper presents the features of a model that relates the natural language found in identifiers with program semantics. The model takes advantage of part of speech information and static-analysis-based program models to understand how different …

Towards a Model to Appraise and Suggest Identifier Names

Unknowingly, identifiers in the source code of a software system play a vital role in determining the quality of the system. Ambiguous and confusing identifier names lead developers to not only misunderstand the behavior of the code but also …