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Naming Conventions

  commonly used in
PascalCase C#
camelCase Java
snake_case Python
kebab-case YAML

For snake case, use underscores to separate words, not capital letters. The same logic applies to kebab case using dashes. For example, do not convert MiniMessage to mini_message; instead, convert it to minimessage. However, Mini Message would be rightfully converted to mini_message.

examples

word pascal camel snake kebab
Just A Variable JustAVariable justAVariable just_a_variable just-a-variable
MiniMessage MiniMessage miniMessage minimessage minimessage
our HTML parser OurHtmlParser ourHtmlParser our_html_parser our-html-parser

upper case

Since snake case and kebab case are not dependent on lower or uppercase characters, there are uppercase variations on them, called upper snake case (or upper kebab case). To differentiate between upper snake case and non-upper snake case, snake case is also called lower snake case - the same applies for kebab case.

  commonly used in
UPPER_SNAKE_CASE Java
lower_snake_case Python
UPPER-KEBAB-CASE ?
lower-kebab-case YAML

Upper snake case (or upper kebab case) is also sometimes called screaming snake case (or screaming kebab case).

personal preference

Although a Java developer, I’ve come to prefer snake case (or kebab case) because of two reasons:

  1. Pascal case and camel case make one letter words ugly. For example, just_a_variable is much more readable than justAVariable.

  2. Acronyms aren’t ambiguous as to whether you capitalize all letters or just the first. For example, “our lovely HTML parser” in camel case could be either ourLovelyHtmlParser or ourLovelyHTMLParser. People get into big fusses about which one is correct. Snake case has no such ambiguity: our_html_parser.

  3. Separating words by a character allows case to be meaningful. For example, my_friend_Brian signifies that Brian is a proper noun, whereas myFriendBrian makes no such distinction. (Some might oppose to uppercase letters in lower snake case, though, and that would be valid criticism.)