Empty Module Template

Is there or has someone created an empty module to start from. I tried copying one of the modules and modifying it, but am having a few problems getting anything to actually show up in the web browser. I have changed all the paths and variables, but must be missing something. I wasn't able to find much in the forums or wiki on this.

I would like to start with the simplest (password maintenance) module and then could start working on others. Also is there some naming convention. I noticed all the modules had numbers in front of them. Is this necessary?