Understanding programmer language

The use of bad names — names that are wrong, inconsistent or inconcise — hinder program comprehension. The root of the problem is that there is no mechanism for aligning the name and implementation of a method. We believe that judgment on the suitability of a chosen name can be passed automatically by comparing the actual implementation of a method to what we would expect from the name itself. The gist of our approach is to understand how programmers use language in their programs, by analysing a large corpus of Java applications. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.3.0 [Programming Languages]: General General Terms Documentation, Languages Keywords Program comprehension, Informal semantics, Program analysis, Traceability, Patterns

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: OOPSLA
• Authors: Einar W. Høst
• Keywords: Hinder Program Comprehension, Keywords Program Comprehension, OOPSLA 2007, Program Comprehension