Naming Conventions

The primary purpose of Naming Conventions is to differentiate between the different categories of elements you are using in your source code, so that at a glance, you are aware of what kind of element you are referencing — such as a local function versus a class method, a column (field) name in a database table versus a table name, or an object variable of a class versus a local variable inside a member-function.

A secondary purpose (if adopted) has the benefit of identifying types within a particular element category — such as variable types that indicate whether the data stored in the entity is a character string, float or integer, etc.

Naming Conventions are helpful in Software Development for a number of reasons:

1. They help reduce complexity by semantically carrying information within an element name that identifies such categories as: variable scope, database entity, object-based class, class data member, etc.


2. They help programmers resolve ambiguity or confusion to prevent coding errors.


3. They keep teams of programmers “in synch” with each other to reduce misunderstandings when calling or sharing code elements or database entities.

Although different enterprises may adopt different Naming Conventions, the key concept to practice is consistency. Along with other Software Best Practices — the consistent use of Naming Conventions within an Enterprise will help the whole team achieve success.

Today software systems are often distributed across multiple tiers of a network using a Relational Database “back end” to store data and stored SQL procedures. Sometimes the tiers include a presentation layer, a business rules middle layer and/or other layers that keep performance and scalability served over a network.

Nevertheless, many of the principles of helpful Naming Conventions in this environment are derived from older desktop application development — but now also include categories of such things as: database entities, object-based elements, middleware components, and API functions to utilize class libraries, frameworks and other technologies:

Below are some examples of Naming Conventions we have found within the “real world” of software development — at commercial software companies and other large enterprises — to help you define those Naming Conventions you wish to adopt...