Names are everywhere. They are our mind's way of abstracting the complexity of the universe. In the world of software, we are always engaged in crafting new abstractions to describe our everyday realities. A common quip in the programming world is naming things is hard. Coming up with a name isn't always hard, but coming up with a good name usually is.

In the previous chapters, we have explored the principles and theory underlying abstractions. In this chapter, we'll provide the final key to the puzzle. An abstraction cannot be a good abstraction without good naming. In the names we use, we are distilling a concept, and that distillation will define how people end up understanding the concept. So, naming things isn't just the provision of arbitrary labels; it is the provision of understanding. Only via a good name can a user or other programmer be able to internalize our abstraction fully and navigate it with a full understanding.

In this chapter, we will use some examples to explore the key characteristics that make a good name. We'll also discuss the challenges of naming things in a dynamically typed language such as JavaScript. We should come away from this chapter with a clear understanding of what is involved in coming up with clean and descriptive names.

Specifically, we'll be covering the following topics:

• What's in a name?
• Naming anti-patterns
• Consistency and hierarchy
• Techniques and considerations