Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns

Chapter 6. Classes

There is probably no coding decision with more effect on the quality of your code than names you give your classes. If computers were the only audience for code, we could just call them C1, C2, C3, and have done. The expensive reader is not the computer, it is other people.

Naming classes is your biggest billboard for communicating about your system. The first thing readers will look at when they look at your code is the names of the classes. Those names will go beyond your code. Insidiously, they leak into everyday conversation—and not just for developers. Ten years down the road, you will hear users who know nothing about programming using the class names you chose.

Good class names provide insight into the purpose and design ...