>From dougo@ccs.neu.edu Sun Jul  5 22:36:29 1998
>From: Doug Orleans <dougo@ccs.neu.edu>
>To: Tim Huenemann <timh@javelintech.com>
>Cc: demeter@ccs.neu.edu
>Subject: Re: Question
>
>Tim Huenemann writes:
> > Here's a good one for you --
> > My colleagues and I have followed Demeter for a few years now but just
> > realized we have conflicting views on how to PRONOUNCE THE WORD.  Please
> > help.  Also, what is it named after?
>
>According to Merriam-Webster (www.m-w.com):
>
>    Main Entry: De·me·ter
>    Pronunciation: di-'mE-t&r
>    Function: noun
>    Etymology: Latin, from Greek DEmEtEr
>    : the Greek goddess of agriculture -- compare CERES 
>
>This is how we pronounce it too-- accent on the long second "e".  I'll
>let Karl explain what the Law of Demeter has to do with the Goddess
>Demeter... I think it's something about growing software.
>
>--Doug
>
  The Demeter project was named after Demeter because we were working
  on a hardware description language Zeus and we were looking for a tool
  to simplify the implementation of Zeus. We were looking for a tool name
  related to Zeus and we chose a sister of Zeus: Demeter.

  Later we promoted the idea that Demeter-style software development is
  about growing software as opposed to building software.
  We introduced the concept of a growth plan which is basically
  as sequence of more and more complex UML class diagrams.
  Growth plans are useful for building systems incrementally.

  Regrading the Law of Demeter,
  we called it "Law of Demeter" because we discovered it while working
  on Demeter but is a general style rule for structure-shy programming.

  See also:
  http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/lieber/what-is-demeter.html

  Thank you for your feedback; please let us know if you have
  success stories involving Demeter.

-- Karl