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[cross-project-issues-dev] Provider and feature names

I've noticed some variety in the selection of provider and feature names in the Mars repository (but this applies to everybody regardless of simultaneous release participation).

I've made a change to the Namespace Policy page [1] to include a bit on features:

The feature name should be descriptive of the feature. There is no need to include the project name in the feature name. Think of a descriptive name that is useful to the end user/consumer.

The provider name should be the full project name. If the name does not already do so, then prefix it with the name of the forge, e.g. "Eclipse EGit", "Eclipse SWTBot", or "LocationTech uDig".


I believe that what I have for the provider name is an accurate reflection of past decisions. This is reflected in the branding requirements for participation in the simultaneous release [2] and what I observe most projects doing.

What I have down for the feature name may be a bit more controversial. I'm thinking of this from the consumer's point of view: the project name isn't generally interesting (unless you've mounted a serious brand-recognition campaign); it is the functionality provided by the feature that needs to be related.

IMHO, the EGit project does a decent job of this. The feature name is "Git Team Provider" and the provider name is "Eclipse EGit". Other features include "Task focused interface for Eclipse Git Team Provider". It's immediately clear what these features provide. They even provide some helpful information in the description of the feature.

Some projects do have an established brand. I'm pretty sure that we can reasonably assert that EMF is a well known brand that the target audience understands and feature names like "EMF Compare" are acceptable (assuming that they are accompanied by a useful description). If you feel that your project falls into this category, that's really your call. I do invite everybody that is doing testing to include this part of the experience in your testing and open appropriate bugs.

You might be seeing some Gerrit contributions...

Wayne

[1] https://wiki.eclipse.org/Development_Resources/HOWTO/The_Eclipse_Code_Namespace_Policy
[2] https://wiki.eclipse.org/SimRel/Simultaneous_Release_Requirements#Branding
--
Wayne Beaton
@waynebeaton
The Eclipse Foundation
EclipseCon
          Europe 2014

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