identifieran

Identifieran is a term used in programming language theory to denote a specialized kind of identifier that carries additional semantic information about binding and scope. It is a theoretical construct, not a standard feature of mainstream languages, but appears in some discussions of symbol resolution and formal modeling.

Origin and etymology: The name blends "identifier" with the suffix -an to indicate a class of symbolic tokens in formal models. It was introduced in speculative literature on enriched symbol tables and name resolution strategies to address the need for preserving provenance and binding context during compilation or verification.

Structure and semantics: An identifieran typically includes a base name plus metadata fields such as scope level, binding kind (variable, function, type), and provenance (module or file). In formal semantics, identifierans serve as canonical representatives of bindings, allowing resolution rules to be expressed independent of concrete syntax.

Applications: In compiler design, identifierans can model overloading, generics, and imports, aiding reasoning about shadowing, visibility, and ordered resolution. In formal verification and teaching, they provide a compact abstraction for studying name binding and symbol tables.

Examples: In a hypothetical language, a variable declared in module M named x might yield an identifieran with base "x", scope 2, binding kind variable, provenance M. A function "sum" with two variants could generate distinct identifierans distinguished by parameter types.

Criticism and alternatives: Critics argue that adding metadata to identifiers can complicate implementations; practical symbol tables and scope graphs are typically used instead. Identifieran remains a theoretical device for exploring ideas about name resolution and binding in a modular setting.