Local variables should be named consistently to communicate intent and improve maintainability. Rename your local variable to follow your project’s naming convention to address this issue.

## Why is this an issue?

A naming convention in software development is a set of guidelines for naming code elements like variables, functions, and classes.
Local variables hold the meaning of the written code. Their names should be meaningful and follow a consistent and easily recognizable pattern.
Adhering to a consistent naming convention helps to make the code more readable and understandable, which makes it easier to maintain and debug. It also ensures consistency in the code, especially when multiple developers are working on the same project.

This rule checks that local variable names match a provided regular expression.

### What is the potential impact?

Inconsistent naming of local variables can lead to several issues in your code:

- Reduced Readability: Inconsistent local variable names make the code harder to read and understand; consequently, it is more difficult to identify the purpose of each variable, spot errors, or comprehend the logic.
- Difficulty in Identifying Variables: The local variables that don’t adhere to a standard naming convention are challenging to identify; thus, the coding process slows down, especially when dealing with a large codebase.
- Increased Risk of Errors: Inconsistent or unclear local variable names lead to misunderstandings about what the variable represents. This ambiguity leads to incorrect assumptions and, consequently, bugs in the code.
- Collaboration Difficulties: In a team setting, inconsistent naming conventions lead to confusion and miscommunication among team members.
- Difficulty in Code Maintenance: Inconsistent naming leads to an inconsistent codebase. The code is difficult to understand, and making changes feels like refactoring constantly, as you face different naming methods. Ultimately, it makes the codebase harder to maintain.

In summary, not adhering to a naming convention for local variables can lead to confusion, errors, and inefficiencies, making the code harder to read, understand, and maintain.

## How to fix it

First, familiarize yourself with the particular naming convention of the project in question. Then, update the name to match the convention, as well as all usages of the name. For many IDEs, you can use built-in renaming and refactoring features to update all usages at once.

### Code examples

#### Noncompliant code example

With the default regular expression `^[a-z][a-z0-9]*([A-Z]{1,3}[a-z0-9]+)*([A-Z]{2})?$`, bringing the following constraints:

- Camel casing, starting with a lowercase character, for example backColor
- Short abbreviations of 2 letters can be capitalized only when not at the beginning, for example id, productID
- Longer abbreviations need to be lowercased, for example html

    Module Module1
        Sub Main()
            Dim Foo = 0 ' Noncompliant
        End Sub
    End Module

#### Compliant solution

    Module Module1
        Sub Main()
            Dim foo = 0 ' Compliant
        End Sub
    End Module

## Resources

### Documentation

- Microsoft Learn - Visual Basic Naming Conventions
- Wikipedia - Naming Convention (programming)

### Related rules

- {rule:vbnet:S101} - Class names should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S114} - Interface names should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S119} - Generic type parameter names should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S1542} - Functions and procedures should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S1654} - Method parameters should follow a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2304} - Namespace names should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2342} - Enumeration types should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2343} - Enumeration values should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2347} - Event handlers should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2348} - Events should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2362} - Private constants should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2363} - "Private Shared ReadOnly" fields should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2364} - "Private" fields should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2366} - Properties should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2367} - Non-private constants should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2369} - Non-private fields should comply with a naming convention
- {rule:vbnet:S2370} - Non-private "Shared ReadOnly" fields should comply with a naming convention