Naming convention for new projects [closed]

Question

I've tried several times to come with an answer to this question. I'm not happy with how projects are named in my shop, they are usually random named after some of these items:

• the client
• some technology used/ or expected to be used inside the project
• some acronyms for the business case the project would relate to
• some names from the domain the project would be in

I find several drawbacks with those approaches:

• the word pool quickly dries up when you have many similar projects
• having the client name inside the project makes it harder to have it abstracted to a generic product
• the acronyms usually sound horrific
• there are many projects that would not pass the prototype phase, and because of this they don't get a proper name
• it's hard to name a project before you know exactly what it does, so most of the time the name picked for the svn and issue tracking project are bad ones.

Please tell me:

What is your naming convention in your shop, are you happy with it, and what would you choose if it were up to you?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Whats in the name? EVERYTHING. Make sure the name is interesting, unique and shows the worth of the product you are making. Names based on functionality is the way to go, but it should not define what are you doing rather a single word term that has somehow has a relation with what you are developing.

I often pick my project names in local language (urdu in my case).

Even if you have to insert client name, usually the product would be called ignoring the client name so it doesnt matter much if you pick strong name for your product.

Just to give an example, I named the chess engine I wrote "Shaatir". In urdu it means

1. Very Strong chess player
2. A Cunning/Clever person
3. Someone who lay down traps
4. Wicked.

Each one of the meaning somehow relates to my program.

Edit: You can also add a slogan to your product. Not sure why the idea is not so popular in the software industry. There are few examples though. Like "UBUNTU- Linux for human beings". Adds spice to your product.

Answer 2

We name projects in this way:

1. 4 Number Year
2. 3 Letter Client Code (That Big Company might be TBC)
3. Project Sequence Number, if its the first project it would be 0001.

So that project would look like this: 2012-TBC-0001

I find that this is a great way to make sure that everything in our office stays straight. The project number is easy to dissect and follows this project through to completion and billing. Its easy to reference and catalog.