“Because XAML is so darn fun to say. Zaml.”
I was working on a draft of a post about Events and XAML, and I tripped over this blast from the past from Kevin Dente from 2003 “Longhorn and Avalon”
I predict that Avalon will be a smashing success with developers. Why? Because XAML is so darn fun to say. Zaml. Just kind of rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? Coupled with its partner in crime - BAML - it's got a one-two punch that just can't miss. Way more fun to say than SVG. Or XUL. Yep, best technology name since SCSI.
XAML BAML, baby.
It reminds me of my “Name Fluency” post from May 2006:
I was reading an article in the NY Times this morning and I ran across the term "name fluency".
The article discussed a study that looked at stock performance based on a number of issues included how pronounceable the name was.
Although I had never heard a term for this before now, I'm a big believer in name fluency. Back when we had to pick a name for Avalon's markup language, many names were considered. I favored XAML (eXtensible Avalon Markup Language). A coworker was arguing for AXML (Avalon XML).
Name fluency was my reasoning.
Shortly before our largest customer preview of Avalon/XAML, perhaps in 2003, we decided to make the A stand for Application, since we didn't think the term Avalon was going to ever be shared externally.