ringmaster
Please don't use clever names for things unless it's obvious to literally anyone why the name makes sense. And if you think it will make sense to everyone, you're probably wrong, so just name it what it does. </killjoy>
Dec 16, 2022 at 5:56pmWeb
Show threadDave BradyDec 20, 2022

@ringmaster 100% this. I worked on a codebase last year that named all the database jobs after Harry Potter spell names, because "obliviate" was more fun than "delete_account_and_all_associated_records".

Bonus points because it soft-deleted the records, so it wasn't even an accurate bad metaphor.

The only time I will favor a metaphor name is if the entire system has a boisterously obvious metaphor. Like how we sometimes say "mail()" when we mean "transmit this packet" in a POB-oriented system.

Show threadringmasterDec 20, 2022
@dbrady we recently named our kubernetes development tool `kat` and to pause the cluster, you `kat paws`. This is acceptable. But just barely.
Show threadDave BradyDec 21, 2022

@ringmaster Ooof, yeah. I would say it's ok if `kat pause` also works, and bonus points if `kat paws` is just "echo kat pause && kat pause".

You can be cute all day as long as you support DWIM instead of smugly refusing to work. If I type `kat pause` you can draw me a full-page ascii kitten if you want, it's great. But pause the cluster while you're doing it. :)