What does XNA stand for?

Typical "made up the acronym first, then came up with it's meaning" situation.

There are plenty of examples of such "recursive" acronyms in the *nix world: Pine Is Not Elm, PHP Hypertext Processor, etc.

Eeeekk!! we really need to help Microsoft with their naming conventions.

So if it's not an acronym then do we pronounce it as ...

"zzzzznnnaaayyy"

?

It was synthesized from Deoxyribonucleic acid.

It's from Microsoft,  so it's gotta have an 'X' in there

Sven Groot wrote:

There are plenty of examples of such "recursive" acronyms in the *nix world: Pine Is Not Elm, PHP Hypertext Processor, etc.

Xml Xaml Xtreme Xbox XNA

Xacerbating.

DoomBringer wrote:

Recursive names stopped being funny awhile ago.

Recursive names stopped being funny awhile ago.

But I am going to buy this.  $99 for making my own games for my 360?  Hawt.

littleguru wrote:

I hate those kinds of acronyms... I don't know what people drives to create such acronyms. Do they think they look smarter then?

Its like DNA but different.  If Charles and the team ever get an interview with J Allard and any of the X-Box team Im sure they could ask.

If memory serves, here's the approximate breakdown:

X -- a reference to Xbox and DirectX
N -- Next generation
A -- Architecture

My understanding is that XNA isn't a "real" acronym in the sense that each letter is a reference to a different individual buzzword, rather than a coherent phrase.

EDIT: FWIW, I thought the FAQ entry was amusing.

dweller wrote:



littleguru wrote: I hate those kinds of acronyms... I don't know what people drives to create such acronyms. Do they think they look smarter then?

Well, I didn't think I looked smarter.  I was on the tail end of a rather grueling 18 hour workday and was feeling a little punchy.  I felt that the FAQ needed something that would end it with a smile.  I'm sorry you didn't like my humor

I'm glad the X-Box side of Microsoft can tell the gray marketing suits to get lost when it comes to setting names. Now if only the development platform team could do the same! I'm still lamenting the loss of "Avalon" and "Indigo". Every other business seems able to come up with great names and are not subject to copyright/trademark issues - surely Microsoft could spend a few more dollars on more imaginative, inspiring names?

XNA is a good "acronym" compared to "WPF" because the number of syllables is 3 compared to 5.

littleguru wrote:



DoomBringer wrote:  dweller wrote:  littleguru wrote: I hate those kinds of acronyms... I don't know what people drives to create such acronyms. Do they think they look smarter then? Well, I didn't think I looked smarter.  I was on the tail end of a rather grueling 18 hour workday and was feeling a little punchy.  I felt that the FAQ needed something that would end it with a smile.  I'm sorry you didn't like my humor That's it, I think you crossed the line.  Let's kill Dave! Eh, its about as funny as any other recursive acronym. Good blog, BTW.  I added it after I saw the mention on Larry Hyrb's blog.

Haha dudes. Don't take it to serious. I'm just not a big fan of those kind of acronyms. They are so computerish or insider jokes. I have a friend who tended to acronym anything in that way.

After a few months it got weird and heavy... I hope you understand me too peace!

I think that XNA looks great as it is... XNA sounds great and needs no acronyms. I'm looking forward to play with it!

ViM - Vi Improved