G&W Chapter 12: The Project’s Name Software Specification Lecture 19 Prepared by Stephen M. Thebaut, Ph.D. University of Florida

What’s in a Name? When Juliet asked: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” Romeo should have responded: “But sooth, a name foretells. It doth beckon what we see in a thing Before its true nature comes to light.” Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12 Anyone interested in smelling the slime-gag choke-warts from my garden? Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12 E-Super-Snoop? You are the CEO of a software company that develops electronic surveillance applications. Your soon-to-be-launched new product enables eavesdropping on internet connections. It basically collects information about e-mail or other electronic communications to or from specific users. What would you name it? Why? Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12 Carnivore In 2000, the FBI announced the development of their “state of art” electronic eavesdropping software, “CARNIVORE”. Their explanation of the name was: “Carnivore chews all the data on the network, but it only actually eats the information authorized by a court order.” What do you think of this name? What do you think happened? Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Carnivore Under Attack Even before its release, Carnivore was the subject of several lawsuits brought about by civil liberties / privacy advocacy groups. Public concern about government surveillance increased dramatically. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Carnivore Under Attack (cont’d) At the end of a review conducted by the Justice Department, the first recommendation was: “change the name”. Carnivore was subsequently renamed “DCS (Digital Collection System) 1000. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Just When We’re Convinced that Names ARE Important G&W tell us: “the important thing is not the name, but the naming” Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12 The Naming Heuristic Propose a name. Offer three reasons why the name is not adequate / desirable. Propose another name that eliminates these problems. Repeat the naming process until you develop a usable name. Don’t go on forever looking for the perfect name. It doesn’t exist. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Helpful Hints and Variations A face-to-face naming session early in the project has many side benefits. If offers a relatively innocent task as an excuse for the major players to get acquainted. If the players don’t act as if it’s an innocent task, it may be indicative of problems to come. Have a dictionary and thesaurus available when meeting to explore names. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

Helpful Hints and Variations (cont’d) Consider choosing a name and subtitle. The name can be an acronym or a symbol, while the subtitle is the actual working title. E.g., Liberty: A Tool to Assist ISP’s with Court-Mandated Data Collection “Backronyms” often lead to inaccurate and/or ambiguous titles, but can be used as an idea generating device. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 12

G&W Chapter 12: The Project’s Name Software Specification Lecture 19 Prepared by Stephen M. Thebaut, Ph.D. University of Florida