Methods should be interchangeable if they do the same.

Problems

• Missed Polymorphism

• Coupling

• IFs / Type check Polluting.

• Names coupled to types.

Solutions

1. Rename methods after what they do.

2. Favor polymorphism.

Sample Code

Wrong

Right

Detection

This is a semantic mistake. We could add a warning for similar method names on Polymorphic classes.

Tags

• Polymorphic

Conclusion

Naming is very important. We need to name after concepts and not after accidental types.

Relations

More info

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If you have three pet dogs, give them names. If you have 10,000 head of cattle, don't bother. Nowadays, the idea of giving a name to every file on your computer is ridiculous.

David Gelernter

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This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.