Programming with a thesaurus

Source code needs to read like a book, with characters introduced in proper order and the plot unfolding logically for the reader to follow. Naming is key. The right word used in the right place—a function, class, variable name—will help avoid many a bug. That’s where a thesaurus will come in handy.

A thesaurus is a reference of words with similar meanings, used “to find the word, or words, by which [an] idea may be most fitly and aptly expressed” (as the architect of, apparently, the best-known English thesaurus wrote). That’s exactly what we aim for in code—express our intent for future programmers, including ourselves, to precisely understand. It’s easy to write code computers understand. When they don’t they tell you at compilation time.

A function or class name must “most fitly and aptly” match what it’s doing. A variable name must likewise accurately describe what it holds.

How many get...() functions did you see in your life? How many of them were actually “getting” things, and only getting them? How many were additionally storing data, creating entities, causing all sorts of side effects?

It’s not just a matter of sloppy programming. Naming creates the boundaries within which a programmer will naturally try to navigate. If you call a class a CompanyManager then anything you try to do with companies will fit into it—retrieving, storing, filtering, listing, sorting etc. That class will eventually evolve into a multi-thousand-line monster.

Help yourself to a thesaurus. Any old one will do, and I personally use thesaurus.com whenever I have trouble finding the right word. For instance, try “create”:

build, construct, discover, establish, form, generate, initiate, shape, start, compose

… and many other alternatives. These are just the ones I thought might be useful in a code base. Say, you want a function to setup a connection to a remote service. You could name it createConnection() but from the above list I’d prefer initiateConnection(). A factory method could be named createInstance() but I’d rather use constructInstance()—referring to the well-known constructor pattern. A function that’ll search for a specific service to connect to, could be called discover...() and so on.

It’s fun, though perhaps I’m biased here, as I find great enjoyment in playing with words, where others will prefer to get on with their work. But it’s worth the effort.

I make software. And other things. Mostly in Warsaw, Poland, from wherever there’s an Internet connection, power outlet and fresh coffee. I love to read and learn how the world works. You should follow me at @mpaluchowski.

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