While Groovy allows defining methods with reserved keyword names by surrounding them with quotes, this practice creates several problems:
- Reduced readability: Quoted method names look unusual and can confuse developers who are not familiar with this Groovy
feature.
- Special calling syntax: Methods with quoted keyword names require qualified calls using the
this. prefix, making
the calling code more verbose and inconsistent.
- Maintenance burden: Code becomes harder to understand and maintain when method names don’t clearly express their purpose.
- Inconsistent style: Mixing quoted and unquoted method names creates inconsistent code style within a project.
The Groovy documentation itself states that "using such names might be confusing and is often best to avoid." This feature was primarily intended
for specific Java integration scenarios and Domain Specific Language (DSL) use cases, not for general application development.
What is the potential impact?
Using reserved keywords as method names can lead to:
- Confusion for team members: Developers may not understand why certain methods require special calling syntax
- Increased cognitive load: Reading and understanding code becomes more difficult
- Maintenance issues: Future developers may struggle to work with such code
- Inconsistent codebase: Mixed naming conventions reduce overall code quality
