namesby

Namesby is a term used in software design to describe a naming pattern or data structure that connects internal identifiers to human-readable names. It emphasizes separating storage keys from user-facing labels, enabling consistent presentation, localization, and easier maintenance. The term is not part of a formal standard; rather, it is a descriptive label found in documentation and code examples for the mechanism that resolves an identifier to a display name.

Mechanism and usage. A namesby pattern typically relies on a mapping structure or a function. Examples include a dictionary, map, or lookup service that associates each id with a display string. In code, this might look like: namesBy = { "u1": "Alice Smith", "u2": "Bob Johnson" }; function displayName(id) { return namesBy[id] ?? id; }. The approach supports fallbacks when a name is missing, and it can be extended to support localization, caching, or dynamic data sources.

Applications and scope. Namesby is commonly used in user interfaces, reports, and data exports where identifiers (such as user IDs or item IDs) must be shown as readable labels. It enables consistent naming across components and can be scoped globally, per user session, or retrieved from external services. Variants may include multiple namesBy mappings for different contexts, such as display names, aliases, or project titles.

Limitations and considerations. Keeping names up to date is important to avoid stale labels. Localization complexity, privacy concerns, and performance implications of large mappings should be managed, often with caching and incremental updates.

See also: display name, alias, identifier, mapping, localization.