Project names
What is a good name for a project? When you think this is a strange question, (1) you might have not done many projects, or (2) you are right.
Counter examples
We humans are more responsive to pain than to gain, so let's start with some pain:
kbshop01 ... kbshop15
Around 2018, I was busy building a new version of an existing webshop for a customer. It contained a lot of different things, including things like data cleansing, SKU creation, import automation, theme development, plus some of these things in an iterative way.
It probably started with a name like KbShop. That was fine for a while, until it became too big. I wanted to split it in subprojects, probably iteration-wise. Eventually it became something like KBshop01... KbShop15. Some problems that I had with this:
- The dream of iterative working is such a sweet, sweet dream, but in reality it rarely works. E.g: KbShop01 might have been a real iteration, but the second iteration was everything from KbShop05 until KbShop15: The just wasn't a real second iteration anymore - I just didn't start afresh anymore after the second iteration
- Names became useless: E.g., Kbshop06 was something about data analysis. Some years later I was wondering where I did this eye-opening data analysis job years ago. It took a lot of work to find it back, because KbShop06 wasn't a helpful name
- This was not one project, but a bunch of projects that in certain ways, had little to do with each other. It was like there were three projects in that 2018, e.g.: Build a rocket, Do some brain surgery and KbShop. But only when diving deeper into KbShop, would I realize that it contained 8 major subprojects.
GuPDreFigAr82
I made this name up (although the beginning, GuP stands for Groeten uit Paramaribo). This is not actually experience concerning project naming, but an experience concerning object naming in programmingl, including naming variables:
If names are complicated acronyms, they will be complicated to use:
- Everytime when I have to use such a name, I have to do some serious thinking - The opposite of good ergonomics
- Six months later, changes are that I wouldn't even know what the name stands for.
UpdateSite
This is probably the least egregious of the examples here, but still problematic: Over six months, I might not know what this refers to. Or at least, I might not know about which site this is, or when it was - Actually really not the worst name. Just not very creative.
Purpose of a project name?
What's the purpose of a project name?
Communication
As a Dutch expression puts it: Het beestje moet een naam hebben - The animal needs a name. Or as I think the Bible puts it:to know something, call it by its name. Anyhow, a project needs a name, simply to be able to refer to it.
Short, distinct and intuitive names are best. Intuitive means that names are easy to remember, to pronounce and to write.
Example: A project called Finalize-de_de. That isn't very easy to pronounce and therefore difficult to communicate. Some alternatives:
- Final-de
- FinalDe
- FinDE.
Some more examples:
- ShopUp: Good!
- Perf23: I think that including numbers, makes a name a bit harder to handle
- AutomateAlot: Not very intuitive. It could easily be written in other ways.
Inspiration
Both for projects that I work on with others, and projects that I do only myself: It is important that names are inspiring. E.g.:
- MoveStuffFromA2B vs. BigMoveA2B
- BuildSite vs. LetsDoSiteLaunch
- Refresh23 vs. Flywheel
- AutomateAlot vs. DeusExMachina.
Retrievable
Maybe the most important function of a name: Helping to find it back, e.g, over 5 years. E.g.:
- UpdateSite vs. SiteAcmeUpdate23
- Flywheel vs. RefreshNL23
Note that this is easily at odds with inspiration.
Descriptive
When I read
Unchanging
I often change names of projects, which is really messy. So maybe don't use descriptive names anymore?
Criteria
What are criteria for good names?
Descriptive
It helps if a name is descriptive. I don't think this is the most important thing, but it helps.
Distinct
Maybe the surest way that projects don't get lost due to unhelpfull names: Use distinct names. E.g.:
- UpdateSite → AcmeUpdateSite2023
Notes:
- This comes (for me) from something an old Greek guy said about taxonomy: What do things have in common, and what does set them apart. Names should have both these aspects
- This is why I like using camel case or underscores in names.
Intuitive
Intutive is the same here as ergonomic: That you don't have to do a lot of mental power to work with a name. E.g.:
- GuPuarTwar → Paramaribo22.
One approach might be, what they do in The Netherlands for e.g., large criminal cases: They get an unrelated word from a dictionary. E.g.:
- Spanish Flue → Montanto
Not only does this result in ergonomic names, but also names that are judgement-free (The Spanish Flue didn't come from Spain, but got its name because Spain wasn't fighting in WW1 hence there was less censorhip).
Durable
Choose a name that might not have a risk of being changed every couple of weeks. Like those names for large criminal cases in the Netherlands - They are timeless.
Maybe the trick here is to use more symbolic names, rather than descriptive names.