What's in a Name (Validation)?

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WHAT'S IN A NAME (VALIDATION)?

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Hello! I'M CARLY HO engineer @ clique studios http://carlymho.com/ @carlymho

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VALIDATING NAMES

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names: important info, difficult to validate

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WHAT IS A NAME?

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what do we assume about names?

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what are names but no, really

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the form of a name is different almost everywhere

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in the USA, we still often assume western euro norms

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names: a way to refer to someone. pretty much it

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sorry, there's no good way to validate them D:

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SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

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what do you need the name for?

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do you need to ID them by name?

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do you need to separate first name/last name?

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do you only need one part of a name?

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THINK AHEAD

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don't assume you can get info other than name from a name

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don't assume which part is the surname/family name

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make sure your ui accommodates both long + short names

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let the user help you by telling them what you'll use the name for

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COMPASSIONATE VALIDATION

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your system might not be able to process all possible names

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don't position it as a problem with the user's name

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admit the system limitation in validations + work to improve

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Thanks! QUESTIONS? You can find me at http://carlymho.com/ @carlymho

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RESOURCES & FURTHER READING "Regular Expression for Validating Names and Surnames," stackoverflow "Your Last Name Contains Invalid Characters," John Graham-Cumming "Representing People's Names in Dublin Core," Andrew Waugh "Wookey - is that it?" Wookey "Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names," Patrick McKenzie