Ask HN: Codenames for proejcts?
I can't find a good argument to achieve this. For example it would be fun to refer to our testing framework as "kraken" instead of "Tester"
how do you decide your project names ?
I can't find a good argument to achieve this. For example it would be fun to refer to our testing framework as "kraken" instead of "Tester"
how do you decide your project names ?
Back in the day, the much-waited-for Version 3 of Lotus 1-2-3 was called Godiva. (Just because everyone liked the chocolate, I think.) But Lotus knew that a lot of customers wouldn't own the high-end computer that the new version would require (hoo-boy a 386!), so they also created Lotus 1-2-3 version 2.2. That was far less sexy of a project to work on, so its code name was Chunky (after the much cheaper chocolate candy).
At the same time, Lotus worked on a SQL database that never _did_ see the light of day. Its lead designer was one of the original 1-2-3 programmers, who'd gotten tired of people asking him what he was working on next. So the code name for our project was, "No comment." Then when he responded, "No comment" to "What are you working on?" he was being explicitly correct. (...I still have the polo shirts and other swag from that project, too. Cool logo of /* */ )
Fast-forward 2 years, and no one can remember what thing does what.
1. New devs on the team have to learn a long list of acronyms and code names, slowing down their ramp-up.
2. Trying to find information is nearly impossible, since you can't just keyword-search for "test" and see all the related dependencies, but instead have to reference some internal code sheet.
3. Duplicate work often results, since you can't easily see the thing you did last time, and if you forget where you put it you'll never find it again. "Wait, is this Kraken? Or was that supposed to be Ahab? Is Nemo the search indexing service or was that Marlin?"
In my teams, I've always dictated boring but descriptive project naming, along with a nice README that includes a description of what the thing does, why it exists, and a handy list of keywords in case you try to find this information later. BTW this also works well for class names, variable names, etc.
Or you could, you know, do something fun and not boring. And have all the developers who come after you curse your name.