▲ 4 ▼ Video: Giving code a good name - Kevlin Henney

Code is basically made up of three things: names, spacing and punctuation. With these three tools a programmer needs to communicate intent, and not simply instruct. But if we look at most approaches to naming, they are based on the idea that names are merely labels, so that discussion of identifier naming becomes little more than a discussion of good labelling.

A good name is more than a label; a good name should change the way the reader thinks. A good name should describe structure with intention, as opposed to the affix-heavy approach common to many naming conventions in current use, where the addition of more prefixes and suffixes becomes homeopathic, diluting the meaning. Good naming is part of good design. This session looks at why and what it takes to get a good name.