For a team of engineers, coming up with a name can be a challenge. When it came time to spin BridgePoint out from Mentor we needed a name. We started a thread on our Skype channel and brainstormed for a few days. Here are name candidates we considered:
- Bodaway (Navajo for “fire maker”)
- Cholla Technology (Cholla is a Sonora Desert cactus.)
- Components R Us
- Associative Link, Inc.
- dozens of others already taken…
One Fact came up later in the session. It did not hit anyone at first, but it began to grow on us. It is simple and easy to say and easy to remember. A tricky logo and tag line, “one fact in one place in your model, One Fact everywhere supporting your team”, sealed the bargain.
“One fact in one place” is a mantra of data modeling. The phrase is contained in relational data base texts explaining normalization. It is the concept that good modeling reduces or totally eliminates redundancy. The concept was emphasized (and still is) in the original Shlaer-Mellor Method training materials teaching Object Oriented Analysis.