Abstract:
A method for providing for standardization of variable names in an integrated development environment is provided. The method includes scanning a project source code for variable names, where the project source code is managed by a development team in an integrated development environment. The method includes determining that the project source code contains a non-standard variable name, where the distinction between a standard variable name and the non-standard variable name is defined by a set of standards and semantic rules. The method then includes identifying a location of the non-standard variable name in the project source code.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of software development and management, and more particularly to standardization of variable names in an integrated development environment. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Within a software development team, standardization of the way code is written allows for easier reading and maintaining of the code because developers can become familiar with a new code component more quickly if it is written in a standardized style. Integrated Development Environments (“IDEs”) often enforce certain standards, for example, a Java® IDE will warn a developer that object types should have a name that begins with a capital letter. Development teams often have standards for variable naming as well, however, IDEs do not currently enforce these standards. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and computer system for providing for standardization of variable names in an integrated development environment. The method includes scanning, by one or more computer processors, a project source code for variable names, the project source code managed by a development team in an integrated development environment. The method includes determining, by the one or more computer processors, that the project source code contains a non-standard variable name, the distinction between a standard variable name, and the non-standard variable name defined by a set of standards and semantic rules. The method then includes identifying a location of the non-standard variable name in the project source code. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram illustrating a development team environment, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting operational steps of a standardization tool for allowing standardization of variable names in an IDE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  depicts a block diagram of components of a data processing system, such as the developer computing device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer-readable storage medium(s) having computer readable program code/instructions embodied thereon. 
     Any combination of computer-readable storage media may be utilized. A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of a computer-readable storage medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     Program code embodied may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
     Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java®, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on a user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine such that the instructions which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the Figures.  FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram illustrating a development team environment, generally designated  100 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
     Development team environment  100  includes developer computing device  120  and server computing device  130 , all interconnected over network  110 . Network  110  can be, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or a combination of the two, and can include wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. In general, network  110  can be any combination of connections and protocols that will support communications between developer computing device  120  and server computing device  130 . 
     Developer computing device  120  includes IDE  122  and standardization tool  124 . In various embodiments of the present invention, developer computer device  120  can be a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a personal computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld computing device or smart phone, a thin client, a mainframe computer, a networked server computer, or any programmable electronic device capable of development of a software product, including computer programming, research, prototyping, modification, and maintenance, and capable of communicating with other computing devices within development team environment  100 . While developer computing device  120  is shown as a single device, within development team environment  100  there can be multiple developer computing devices communicating with each other and with server computing device  130  via network  110 . Developer computing device  120  may include internal and external components, as depicted and described with respect to  FIG. 3 . 
     IDE  122  is a software application providing capabilities and facilities to developers and computer programmers for software development. IDEs present a single environment in which all development is done. An IDE normally consists of a source code editor, build automation tools and a debugger and typically provides many additional features for authoring, modifying, compiling, deploying and debugging software. Standardization tool  124  is a feature, add-on, or plugin in IDE  122  that scans a project&#39;s source code for standard variable names, according to standards and semantic rules defined by a development team, described in more detail below, and builds or adds to a database of the standard variable names, for example, variable name database  132  described below. Standardization tool  124  also generates a notification of non-standard variable names found in the project source code. A developer, programmer, or some other member of the development team can review the non-standard variable name and either correct the variable name, or add the variable name to the database. The database is editable by the development team, such as those operating on developer computing device  120  and similar such devices within development team environment  100 , and allows variable names to be defined appropriately and according to the standard of the team and for the problem domain in which IDE  122  is operating. 
     Server computing device  130  includes variable name database  132 . In various embodiments of the present invention, server computing device  130  can be a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a personal computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld computing device or smart phone, a thin client, a mainframe computer, a networked server computer, or any programmable electronic device capable of communicating with developer computing device  120 . Variable name database  132  stores standard or allowed variable names by object type, as determined and defined by the development team for the problem domain and according to the standards of the development team. While in  FIG. 1 , variable name database  132  is located on server computer device  130 , one of skill in the art will appreciate that, in other embodiments, variable name database  132  can be located elsewhere within development team environment  100  and can be accessible to users of developer computing devices within development team environment  100  via network  110 . 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting operational steps of standardization tool  124  for allowing standardization of variable names in an IDE, such as IDE  122 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     Standardization tool  124  scans a project source code (step  202 ). In an IDE, such as IDE  122  on developer computing device  120 , standardization tool  124  scans a project&#39;s source code for standard names for variables based on object type. In various embodiments of the present invention, standardization tool  124  scans the source code using facilities available in IDE  122  for extracting object types and variable names based on an understanding of syntax of each particular programming language. For example, given “ItemTemplate itemTemplate=new ItemTemplate( )” and “ItemTemplate folderTemplate=TemplateFactory.getFolderTemplate( )” in the project source code, standardization tool  124  would recognize “itemTemplate” and “folderTemplate” as variable names for the object type “ItemTemplate.” In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, standardization tool  124  can scan the project source code for standard method names, such as “getFolderTemplate” in the example above. 
     Standardization tool  124  adds standard variable names to a database (step  204 ). Based on the scan of the project source code, standardization tool  124  builds a database of standard variable names, such as variable name database  132 . Variable names are stored in variable name database  132  on a per project, per development, team basis. In various embodiments of the present invention, standardization tool  124  can recognize inflections, or mutations, to a root word in the database based on context. For example, if a variable name for the object type “User” can be “user”, a list of users, “List&lt;User&gt;” would allow the variable name “users.” Additionally, standardization tool  124  can recognize inheritance relationships, for example, if object type “Cat” extends to object type “Animal”, an allowable variable name for an “Animal” would be “Cat”, since it is an allowable variable name for the object type “Cat.” In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a developer or programmer using IDE  122  can edit the database, for example, variable name database  132 , through an interface by removing, adding, or editing variable names based on standards defined by the development team operating within development team environment  100 . 
     In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, instead of storing variable names, the database can contain general rules for variable names. For example, a “regular expression (regex)” style rule could state “*Template”, which would allow the project source code to contain any variable name ending in “Template.” 
     Standardization tool  124  determines whether non-standard variable names are found in the scan (decision block  206 ). The distinction between standard and non-standard variable names is determined, or defined, according to standards and semantic rules defined by the development team. For example, “ItemTemplate it=getTemplate( )” is a non-standard variable name for the project source code because “it” is not a defined name for an “ItemTemplate” within development team environment  100 . If non-standard variable names are not found (decision block  206 , “no” branch), standardization tool  124  determines whether the scan reached the end of the available source code (decision block  216 ). 
     If non-standard variable names are found (decision block  206 , “yes” branch), standardization tool  124  locates the non-standard variable names in the source code (step  208 ). For example, standardization tool  124  may locate “ItemTemplate flderTemplate=getTemplateQ” because the variable name contains a spelling error. 
     Standardization tool  124  displays a notification indicating the location of a non-standard variable name (step  210 ). A notification, or other alert or warning, is generated indicating the location of the non-standard variable name in the source code, which calls the non-standard variable name to the developer or programmer&#39;s attention. The notification may include, for example, highlighting the location of the non-standard variable name in the source, displaying a window containing a message indicating the location of the non-standard variable name, or any other manner to indicate to the developer or programmer the location of the non-standard variable name. 
     Standardization tool  124  determines whether the non-standard variable name is added to the database (decision block  212 ). If the developer or programmer approves the non-standard variable name, either because, for example, it is an appropriate name or it is for a new object type, the developer or programmer, can choose to add the non-standard variable name to the database as a new variable name. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, only a developer, programmer, or some other member of the development team with a level of permission corresponding to permission to add, remove, or edit variable names in the database, as designated by the development team, may do so. In various embodiments of the present invention, a developer, programmer, or some other member of the development team with certain levels of permission, as designated by the development team, may choose to suppress the notification upon a determination that the non-standard variable name is appropriate, without adding the variable name to the database. 
     If the non-standard variable name is not added to the database (decision block  212 , “no” branch), standardization tool  124  determines whether the non-standard variable name is corrected in the source code (decision block  214 ). For example, the developer or programmer may correct a misspelling or incorrect variable name in the project source code. If the non-standard variable name is not corrected (decision block  214 , “no” branch), standardization tool  124  continues to display a notification locating the non-standard variable name in the source code (step  210 ). 
     If the non-standard variable name is added to the database (decision block  212 , “yes” branch), or if the non-standard variable name is corrected in the source code (decision block  214 , “yes” branch), standardization tool  124  determines whether the scan reached the end of the source code (decision block  216 ). If the scan is not at the end of the source code (decision block  216 , “no” branch), standardization tool  124  continues to scan the source code (step  202 ). If the scan is at the end of the source code (decision block  216 , “yes” branch), standardization tool  124  no longer scans the source code for variable names and standardization tool  124  ends. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the created database, variable name database  132  in development team environment  100 , can be used to standardize new source code by auto-completion of variable names while writing the new source code. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a block diagram of components of developer computer device  120 , in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that  FIG. 3  provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made. 
     Developer computer device  120  includes communications fabric  302 , which provides communications between computer processor(s)  304 , memory  306 , persistent storage  308 , communications unit  310 , and input/output (I/O) interface(s)  312 . Communications fabric  302  can be implemented with any architecture designed for passing data and/or control information between processors (such as microprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.), system memory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware components within a system. For example, communications fabric  302  can be implemented with one or more buses. 
     Memory  306  and persistent storage  308  are computer-readable storage media. In this embodiment, memory  306  includes random access memory (RAM)  314  and cache memory  316 . In general, memory  306  can include any suitable volatile or non-volatile computer-readable storage media. 
     IDE  122  and standardization tool  124  are stored in persistent storage  308  for execution by one or more of the respective computer processors  304  via one or more memories of memory  306 . In this embodiment, persistent storage  308  includes a magnetic hard disk drive. Alternatively, or in addition to a magnetic hard disk drive, persistent storage  308  can include a solid state hard drive, a semiconductor storage device, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, or any other computer-readable storage media that is capable of storing program instructions or digital information. 
     The media used by persistent storage  308  may also be removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage  308 . Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto another computer-readable storage medium that is also part of persistent storage  308 . 
     Communications unit  310 , in these examples, provides for communications with other data processing systems or devices, including server computing device  130 . In these examples, communications unit  310  includes one or more network interface cards. Communications unit  310  may provide communications through the use of either or both physical and wireless communications links. IDE  122  and standardization tool  124  may be downloaded to persistent storage  308  through communications unit  310 . 
     I/O interface(s)  312  allows for input and output of data with other devices that may be connected to developer computing device  120 . For example, I/O interface  312  may provide a connection to external devices  318  such as a keyboard, keypad, a touch screen, and/or some other suitable input device. External devices  318  can also include portable computer-readable storage media such as, for example, thumb drives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. Software and data used to practice embodiments of the present invention, e.g., IDE  122  and standardization tool  124 , can be stored on such portable computer-readable storage media and can be loaded onto persistent storage  308  via I/O interface(s)  312 . I/O interface(s)  312  also connect to a display  320 . Display  320  provides a mechanism to display data to a user and may be, for example, a computer monitor or an incorporated display screen, such as is used in tablet computers and smart phones. 
     The programs described herein are identified based upon the application for which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular program nomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus the invention should not be limited to use solely in any specific application identified and/or implied by such nomenclature. 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.