http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=990528


in reply to camelCase vs snake_case

My preference when it comes to writing code is readability. What that really means is readability to me. Everyone has a different ideal on how to make code readable.

To me, a variable name like $camelCase is very readable. The sigil is full height, and that's followed by a lower case letter. After that, each word within the variable name starts with a capital letter. It's also easy to type: just upper and lower case letters. That's the typography angle for you.

A variable name like $camel_case is not as friendly from a typing point of view -- I have to stop typing letters and go and hit the underbar. This gets worse if it's $a_really_long_variable_name; I never learned to type properly, so my typing style probably contributes to this.

Worse than this is the choice that combines camelCase with snake_case .. $a_Very_Long_Variable_Name. If you're able to type that easily and quickly, good for you -- I'll never use it.

Finally, I've met Damian a few times when he's visited Toronto -- he's a very entertaining speaker and is extremely knowledgeable about Perl and Computer Science. Still, I don't agree with *everything* he says -- in some cases I have my own preferences.

Alex / talexb / Toronto

"Groklaw is the open-source mentality applied to legal research" ~ Linus Torvalds