Guides

/

Naming Standards and Design Conventions for ETL

Discipline

Naming Standards and Design Conventions for ETL

Naming standards reduce onboarding time, eliminate ambiguity, and make large ETL ecosystems predictable.

CoeurData Editorial Team3 min read

1. Pipelines & Workflows

  • Include domain + purpose (e.g., claims_load_stage).
  • Group jobs by business function, not by developer.
  • Avoid cryptic abbreviations.

2. Transformations & Tasks

  • Name objects by function: filter_invalid, aggregate_sales.
  • Group related transformations logically.
  • Document unusual or complex transformations inline.

3. Parameters & Variables

  • Prefix by scope: job_*, env_*, global_*.
  • Use descriptive names, not var1, x, tmp.

4. Foldering & Project Structure

  • Organize by domain (policy, claims, billing) or layer (staging, refine, consume).
  • Use a dedicated folder for shared utilities.
  • Avoid deep nesting.

Consistent naming is the cheapest investment with the highest ROI in maintainability. Automated analysis can enforce naming patterns and flag inconsistencies across large codebases.