When developing a software solution to a problem, it is vital that all variable names or identifiers are carefully documented.  This ensures that all members of the development team are aware of the identifiers that have been used, their data types, storage size, display size and format, scope of usage and various other details.

A data dictionary is a repository where this information is held.  Data dictionary functions are available with most software development CASE tools.  If the data dictionary is an integral part of the development environment then confusion due to duplicate identifiers can be eliminated.