Who is Charlie?
Charlie is the name of my web application. The elevator pitch for Charlie is as follows:
“Charlie is a web-based application that simplifies the creation, maintenance, and use of websites. For a website developer, Charlie simplifies the process of creating and updating a website. For a website owner, Charlie simplifies the process of maintaining and editing a website. For a website user, Charlie simplifies the process of navigating and using a website.”
Why the name Charlie?
One of the best software analogies that I have read likened a software application to a traditional architect. The application gives life to a set of instructions in the same way that an architect gives life to a set of blueprints. The application coordinates various subsystems (such as display and communication) in the same way that an architect coordinates various specialists (such as plumbers and electricians). While the analogy extends further, I will not follow it here.
When I started thinking about creating a web application that would simplify the creation, maintenance, and use of websites, I started visualising the subsystems as specialists. I went so far as to give names to the subsystems. The navigation subsystem I named Sybil in honour of the greatest computer article I have ever read. The data subsystem I named Marcie in reference to the DataGridGirl. Being a typical guy, I visualised Sybil and Marcie as being kick-ass women. Who commands a team of kick-ass women? Charlie, of Charlie’s Angels.
Within a short while I stopped anthropomorphising the subsystems. I felt that such an approach might impose limits upon my application; whereas people are separate entities, subsystems may benefit from some blending. While I stopped naming the subsystems, I very much liked Charlie as an application name.
by Alister Jones | Next up: The Feature Set →
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