Tropical storm names:

Experience shows that the use of short, distinctive given names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error than the older more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods. These advantages are especially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

During my last project it became important to name the monthly releases; we decided to follow a "hurricane naming strategy". It's easier to think and talk about what stories went into "Betty" than release 1_0_0_1, while the alphabetical naming helps maintain a mental picture of the order in which things occurred.

The playful nature of the names also added to the morale and mental health of the team; this did conflict a little with a corporate view that being officially miserable in one's duties is the same as professionalism.

As mildly pleased as I was with this strategy the fact that our new daughter now shares a name (Florence) with one of the releases is entirely coincidental. It has been suggested that we use 1_0_0_6_b3 as a middle name, though.

Thursday, April 27, 2006 | Permalink | 0 Comments