Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic

Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by e1g on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @06:21AM (#32822465)

As a counter example, there are plenty of successful projects/brands with highly descriptive names: TypeScript, RHEL, GitHub, AWS, GraphQL, HAproxy, Sendmail, QuickBooks, …

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by dagw on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @06:52AM (#32822660)

QuickBooks

I'm assuming this is a tool for quickly laying out and publishing books. Or perhaps a tool for quickly searching for and downloading books to my iPad or ebook reader.

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by e1g on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @06:55AM (#32822681)

In that domain (accounting), the name refers to “doing the books” which probably predates the abacus.

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by smsm42 on Saturday September 17, 2022 @01:55AM (#32875124)

At least there's a meaning of word "book" that matches what it does. So once you learned what it does, you can make a mental note of "ah, those books". Imagine it was named FluffyTurtle instead. Good luck remembering what it does even if you already looked it up 20 times before. And not confusing it with SparklyCamel, which is an inventory manager for plumbers.

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by Ensorceled on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @09:09AM (#32823771)

Yep, could also be those things.

But accounts and bookkeepers all know what QuickBooks is and are quite happy to not have to explain to their clients why they need to spend $75 a month on "KowalaBabyPooPoos" or something equally ludicrous name.

Which is the point which you probably didn't miss in the first place.

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by amadeuspagel on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @09:27AM (#32823982)

Apparently, there's an accounting software called Xero, they have the dotcom[1]. Pretty good name and domain IMO.

[1]: https://xero.com

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by Joker_vD on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @06:46AM (#32822627)

What is descriptive about "RHEL" or "AWS"?

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by e1g on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @06:53AM (#32822665)

I abbreviated on the phone, but the respective full names are “X Enterprise Linux” and “X Web Services” which are literal description of what their thing is. “RedHat” and “Amazon” are generic, but the product names are highly specific.

I mean it could’ve been “RedHat Cthulu” and “Amazon RainBox”.

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by ForHackernews on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @09:14AM (#32823831)

I strenuously dispute that "Web Services" is "highly specific".

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by marcosdumay on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @12:15PM (#32826304)

It is about as specific as the product.

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by anonymoushn on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @06:49AM (#32822647)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Amazon Web Services?

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by ForHackernews on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @07:16AM (#32822828)

"Amazon Web Services" could mean literally anything. It only seems obvious and descriptive because it's become a widely known brand.

Compare: "Nile Online Frameworks"

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by PurpleRamen on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @07:31AM (#32822942)

But, isn't AWS doing literally everything?

No simple name can describe the job 100% after a certain level of complexity anyway.

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by lupire on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @08:30AM (#32823427)

> Compare: "Nile Online Frameworks"

Those are synonyms. What is your point?

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Re:Software component names should be whimsical and cryptic by smsm42 on Saturday September 17, 2022 @01:57AM (#32875134)

AWS was useful until it became to mean "about 9000 totally unrelated products, each of them having its own name, sometimes very non-descriptive". But at least you know it's a service from Amazon, sometimes you don't even get that from the name.

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