This cop checks that the cyclomatic complexity of methods is not higher than the configured maximum. The cyclomatic complexity is the number of linearly independent paths through a method. The algorithm counts decision points and adds one.

An if statement (or unless or ?:) increases the complexity by one. An else branch does not, since it doesn't add a decision point. The && operator (or keyword and) can be converted to a nested if statement, and ||/or is shorthand for a sequence of ifs, so they also add one. Loops can be said to have an exit condition, so they add one.

Cognitive Complexity

Cognitive Complexity is a measure of how difficult a unit of code is to intuitively understand. Unlike Cyclomatic Complexity, which determines how difficult your code will be to test, Cognitive Complexity tells you how difficult your code will be to read and comprehend.

A method's cognitive complexity is based on a few simple rules:

• Code is not considered more complex when it uses shorthand that the language provides for collapsing multiple statements into one
• Code is considered more complex for each "break in the linear flow of the code"
• Code is considered more complex when "flow breaking structures are nested"

Further reading

• Cognitive Complexity docs
• Cognitive Complexity: A new way of measuring understandability

This cop makes sure that all variables use the configured style, snake_case or camelCase, for their names.

Example: EnforcedStyle: snake_case (default)

# bad
fooBar = 1

# good
foo_bar = 1

Example: EnforcedStyle: camelCase

# bad
foo_bar = 1

# good
fooBar = 1

This cop checks method parameter names for how descriptive they are. It is highly configurable.

The MinNameLength config option takes an integer. It represents the minimum amount of characters the name must be. Its default is 3. The AllowNamesEndingInNumbers config option takes a boolean. When set to false, this cop will register offenses for names ending with numbers. Its default is false. The AllowedNames config option takes an array of whitelisted names that will never register an offense. The ForbiddenNames config option takes an array of blacklisted names that will always register an offense.

Example:

# bad
def bar(varOne, varTwo)
  varOne + varTwo
end

# With `AllowNamesEndingInNumbers` set to false
def foo(num1, num2)
  num1 * num2
end

# With `MinArgNameLength` set to number greater than 1
def baz(a, b, c)
  do_stuff(a, b, c)
end

# good
def bar(thud, fred)
  thud + fred
end

def foo(speed, distance)
  speed * distance
end

def baz(age_a, height_b, gender_c)
  do_stuff(age_a, height_b, gender_c)
end