Needing a name before you start a project

From WhyNotWiki

[edit] Why do I need a name before I start a project? (Is it really a problem?)

Well, you don't strictly need a name just to develop your project locally... but if you don't have a name, you can't create a project on RubyForge, you can't really announce your project on any mailing lists, you can't create a permanent project web site, and in general it just makes it harder to talk about your project and communicate with others about it until it has a name.

[edit] How is that a problem?

Well, at the beginning of your project's existence -- when it's still just in idea stage in your mind's eye -- that shouldn't/can't be your primary concern. Your first concern should/probably will be "What is it?" "What is it for?" "What does it do?" "Has this already been done before?" "Is there a need for this?" "How will I design/implement it?"

To answer some of those questions, you may want to...

• Start writing down notes and ideas. What should you call the file that you store these ideas in?? It would have to be something generic, probably.
• How do you brainstorm with others? You could post on mailing lists and talk about "this __ I'm working on that does __". That works... but it's not how you want to refer to it forever.
• And then once other people start talking about what you're working on, it gets even more verbose... "this __ that __ is working on that does __"

In rare cases, you may think of a great name right at the beginning that you end up using and keeping.

More commonly, the final name isn't thought of immediately. Instead, a code name is used at first, and only later is a final "release" name decided upon.