←back to thread

Programmers and software developers lost the plot on naming their tools

(larr.net)
330 points todsacerdoti | 1 comments | 11 Dec 25 18:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.194s | source
Show context
marifjeren ◴[11 Dec 25 18:36 UTC] No.46235167[source]▶
There is actually a good reason not mentioned, not to name tools by their purpose:

- the purpose will change

Your "silicon-valley-bank-integrator" tool will eventually need to be updated to do something else.

Or your "login-page-config-service" tool may eventually do more than just logins.

Using gibberish or mythological names gives a nice memorable name that doesn't lead (or mislead) you to believe it does a particular thing which may or may not be correct anymore.

replies(3): >>46235330 #>>46235354 #>>46235368 #
Nevermark ◴[11 Dec 25 18:48 UTC] No.46235354[source]▶
A good reason to use arbitrary code names before assigning a more helpful name upon release of something deemed to now be generally usable, beyond developers with caveats.
replies(1): >>46239326 #
1. accrual ◴[12 Dec 25 00:20 UTC] No.46239326[source]▶
I like this approach. Use a cute, fun, memorable name internally for stuff getting off the ground. Once it becomes user facing, the internal name becomes a fun note on Wikipedia and the world sees the actual calculated name.