Naming

[davebcn87]

I think we could start a discussion on whether we want or not to change the name of the component. People keeps mixing RecyclerFlatList and RecyclerListView, which can be a problem in the future.

Current name pros/cons:

PROS

• Defines what it is, a mix of RecyclerListView and FlatList

CONS

• Can be confused as RecyclerListView
• People have already bad concept of FlatList and containing the name could be misleading.

What are your thoughts on this?

[fortmarek]

I like the name because it clearly explains what it does. But it is easy to mistake it with RecyclerListView. Whatever name we choose, I think we should keep the name as {Prefix}FlatList. Instead of Recycler prefix, we could borrow terminology from UITableView and name our component ReuseFlatList (or some other derived name from the reusing concept).

If we want to change the name, we should imho act quickly because we are already spreading the name RecyclerFlatList and the longer we wait, the more ingrained the term will be in people's minds.

People have already bad concept of FlatList and containing the name could be misleading.

I don't understand this argument - what do you mean by "bad concept"?

[naqvitalha]

How about something as simple as ShopList? Also should we ask for suggestion in the react native group?

[fortmarek]

If I heard ShopList, I'd think it's not a general-purpose component but something specific for commerce. I'm pretty sure it would also confuse devs working on the Shop app 😄

[davebcn87]

Same here, I see ShopList as an app to have a list for the groceries.

[naqvitalha]

Haha, I agree. Crowdsourcing might be a good idea IMO

[fortmarek]

@naqvitalha will you post the question in the #react-native slack channel then?

[davebcn87]

I got a new name idea: FlashList. Reasoning behind the name:

• Close to FlatList only need to change one t for a sh to make it work.
• Flash as a synonym of fast.
• Short name, easy to remember.
• Even if the name is close to FlatList it sounds different so it is more memorable.
• I did not find any big project with that name. Even domain names are most of them free.

[davebcn87]

@naqvitalha @fortmarek @ElviraBurchik thoughts here?

[fortmarek]

I think it's a pretty good name. I don't have a strong opinion on FlashList vs ZapList, I'd be ok with either of those.

[ElviraBurchik]

Agree, the name sounds good 👍

[naqvitalha]

It's a good name :) @davebcn87 why don't you put this on the react-native channel and take feedback and suggestions? We might get an even better name. I've very bad at names so I'm not even suggesting :P

[sbalay]

Naive idea, but have you considered FastList? react-native-fast-list

1. Mimics https://github.com/DylanVann/react-native-fast-image which is a widely used react native package
2. The name makes it quite clear which is the value proposal of the package, it's fast
3. Kinda funny how similar the words FastList / FlatList are.

[davebcn87]

@sbalay we discarded FastList because it is already a list component that Discord created a while ago. It is not officially open sourced, but there is a known gist where they shared the code. We prefer not adding any confusion that this is the same library.