Inclusive Variable

ID

php.inclusive_variable

Severity

info

Remediation Complexity

trivial

Remediation Risk

medium

Remediation Effort

low

Resource

Code Smell

Language

Php

Tags

code_smell, inclusive

Description

Reports a variable or class property whose name contains a non-inclusive term such as blacklist, whitelist, master or slave. The check is a case-insensitive substring test, so names like $whitelist or $masterKey are flagged. Each name is reported once, where it is introduced: a parameter, a class property, an assignment target or a foreach loop variable.

Rationale

Variable and property names appear throughout a file and in any output that dumps state. Terms like master/slave or whitelist/blacklist carry exclusionary connotations and have clear neutral replacements (allow/deny, primary/replica) that lose no meaning. Choosing inclusive names keeps the codebase welcoming to all contributors.

<?php

$whitelist = [];        // FLAW - "whitelist" is non-inclusive
$masterKey = '';        // FLAW - "master" is non-inclusive

$allowList = [];        // OK - neutral replacement
$primaryKey = '';       // OK - neutral replacement

Remediation

Rename the variable or property to an inclusive equivalent: whitelist becomes allowList, blacklist becomes denyList, master/slave become primary/replica. Use an IDE rename refactoring so all references update consistently.

References