Is there a Benefit to Having the Name of Javascript Functions Start with Lowercase Letters?

Question

I have noticed that most Javascript methods (framework and custom) start with lowercase letters. Is there a reason and/or benefit to this?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1564398/javascript-method-naming-lowercase-vs-uppercase — mplungjan, Jan 05 '11 at 17:59

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 05 '11 at 17:55

1

There's no technical reason. It's about readability, tradition, similarity to existing code. Consistency leads to readability, and arbitrary divergence stands out for no good reason.

answered Jan 05 '11 at 17:55

Paul Roub

36,322
27
84
93

Additionaly, the convention is to start constructor functions with an uppercase letter. This mirrors the conventions in Java and other OO langauges. – OrangeDog Jan 05 '11 at 17:59
I'm not knocking your answer, but if I play devil's advocate I might say that mixed case for the first letter of the words that make up a method name makes for more difficult readability. Also, working without source control is a bad tradition many still follow, but that doesn't make it good to follow. If most existing code for a platform is poorly formed, why emulate it? – NoAlias Jan 05 '11 at 22:26
Obviously, diverging from norm when there's a good reason to do so is a *very* good thing. But capitalization is pretty subjective, so absent a compelling benefit (other than personal preference), why add gratuitous differences? – Paul Roub Jan 08 '11 at 02:21

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 05 '11 at 17:59

0

In any case-sensitive language, it's especially important to be consistent about how you case variables. But starting with lower-vs-upper is just an idiom that's evolved in the community.

answered Jan 05 '11 at 17:59

Gabe Moothart

31,211
14
77
99

Is there a Benefit to Having the Name of Javascript Functions Start with Lowercase Letters?

2 Answers2