NAME
Random::Names - Create random names to be used as identifiers
SYNOPSIS
use Random::Names;
# procedural interface
say docker-name; # e.g. epic-engelbart
say class-name; # e.g. Mendeleev
say identifier-name; # e.g. dhawan
my @dn = docker-name(10); # get array with 10 unique docker-names
my @cn = class-name(10); # get array with 10 unique class-names
my @in = identifier-name(10); # get array with 10 unique identifiers
# object interface
my $rn = Random::Names.new; # set up unique pool of names
say $rn.docker-name;
say $rn.class-name;
say $rn.identifier-name;
DESCRIPTION
Sometimes you need some placeholder names for things that do not have a name yet. This module provides a way to create names for things that are both fun and interesting. The names from which it selects, are the surnames of individuals that are famous in the history of scientific exploration and engineering.
It offers 3 types of random names:
Similar to how Docker names unnamed containers.
Title-cased names used for classes in Raku.
Just a random name that can be used as an identifier.
This module also installs a rn script that allows you to generate one or more names, accepting a named argument --docker for docker names, --class for class names, or just identifiers if not specified. Also optionally takes a named argument --verbose to also show the WHY and LINK information.
Each string that is being returned by this module, also has a .WHY method attached to it that will give additional information about the person to which the name is attached. E.g.;
my $name = identifier-name;
say $name; # einstein
my $why = $name.WHY;
say $why; # Albert Einstein invented the general theory of relativity.
And that string has a .LINK method that produces a link to a page that will show you more information about that person:
say $why.LINK; # https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
FUNCTIONS
docker-name
Return a random string similar to how Docker names unnamed containers, such as: interesting-mendeleev, epic-engelbart, lucid-dhawan, recursing-cori, ecstatic-liskov and busy-ardinghelli. These are made from a random selection of an adjective and a surname.
Optionally takes the number of docker-names to be returned.
say docker-name; # e.g. epic-engelbart
.say for docker-name(5); # 5 different docker names
class-name
Return a random string that can be used as a name of a class, such as Mendeleev.
Optionally takes the number of class names to be returned.
say class-name; # e.g. Engelbart
.say for class-name(5); # 5 different class names
identifier-name
Return a random string that can be used as an identifier, such as dhawan.
Optionally takes the number of identifiers to be returned.
say identifier-name; # e.g. cori
.say for identifier-name(5); # 5 different identifiers
METHODS
The method interface has two different modes of operation. When called as a class method, the semantics are exactly the same as the functional interface.
When called on a Random::Names instance, it will only produce each adjective and each surname only once. This means that any mix of calls to docker-name, class-name or identifier-name, the returned strings will always be unique.
new
my $rn = Random::Names.new:
adjectives => <pretty awful>, # default: standard set of adjectives
surnames => <mattijsen kasik>, # default: standard set of surnames
;
docker-name
Return a random string similar to how Docker names unnamed containers. These are made from a random selection of an adjective and a surname.
Optionally takes the number of docker-names to be returned.
my $rn = Random::Names.new;
say $rn.docker-name; # e.g. epic-engelbart
.say for $rn.docker-name(5); # 5 different docker names
class-name
Return a random string that can be used as a name of a class, such as Mendeleev.
Optionally takes the number of class names to be returned.
my $rn = Random::Names.new;
say $rn.class-name; # e.g. Engelbart
.say for $rn.class-name(5); # 5 different class names
identifier-name
Return a random string that can be used as an identifier, such as dhawan.
Optionally takes the number of identifiers to be returned.
my $rn = Random::Names.new;
say $rn.identifier-name; # e.g. cori
.say for $rn.identifier-name(5); # 5 different identifiers
adjectives
.say for Random::Names.new.adjectives;
Return an array of possible adjectives, alphabetically sorted.
surnames
.say for Random::Names.new.surnames;
Return an array of possible surnames, alphabetically sorted.
AUTHOR
Elizabeth Mattijsen liz@raku.rocks, inspired by the Perl module Data::Docker::Names by Mikko Johannes Koivunalho mikko.koivunalho@iki.fi.
Source can be located at: https://github.com/lizmat/Random-Names . Comments and Pull Requests are welcome.
If you like this module, or what I’m doing more generally, committing to a small sponsorship would mean a great deal to me!
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2020, 2021, 2022 Elizabeth Mattijsen
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the Artistic License 2.0.