Ultimately,
relational databases should include an object name thesaurus, just as they include a data dictionary.
This thesaurus should enforce the naming standards of the company and ensure consistency of name choice and abbreviation (where used).
Such standards may require the use of underscores in
object naming to make the parsing of the name into component parts a straightforward task. This also helps enforce the consistent use of underscores, rather than the scattered, inconsistent usage within an application that underscores frequently receive now.
If you work directly with a government agency or large firm, that organization may already have object-naming standards.
The object-naming standards of large organizations have over the years radiated into the rest of the commercial marketplace, and they may form the basis for the naming standards used at your company.
For example, those standards may provide the direction to choose between
- Corporation and
- Firm.
If they do not, you should develop your naming standards to be consistent, both with those base standards and with the guidelines put forth in this module.