Variable Naming Conventions (Casing)

📌 Note

There is no single "best" casing for all programming languages. Always follow the naming convention recommended by the language, framework, or project style guide.

Language/Technology	Preferred Variable Case
Python	snake_case
JavaScript	camelCase
Java	camelCase
Go	camelCase / PascalCase
C#	camelCase / PascalCase
Kubernetes JSON/YAML Fields	camelCase
Environment Variables	SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE
CSS Classes	kebab-case

---

1. lowercase

All characters are lowercase with no separators.

numberofdonuts
favephrase
podip

Common Uses

• Simple identifiers
• File names
• URLs

---

2. UPPERCASE

All characters are uppercase.

NUMBEROFDONUTS
FAVEPHRASE
PODIP

Common Uses

• Constants
• Macros
• Legacy code

---

3. snake_case

Each word is separated by an underscore (_), and all letters are lowercase.

number_of_donuts = 34
fave_phrase = "Hello World"
pod_ip = "10.244.0.5"

Common Uses

• Python
• Databases
• Linux commands
• Configuration files

---

4. SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE

Each word is separated by an underscore (_), and all letters are uppercase.

MAX_RETRIES
DATABASE_URL
API_KEY
POD_IP

Common Uses

• Constants
• Environment variables
• Configuration values

---

5. kebab-case

Each word is separated by a hyphen (-).

number-of-donuts
fave-phrase
pod-ip

Common Uses

• URLs
• CSS class names
• HTML IDs
• Kubernetes resource names

Example:

metadata:
  name: nginx-webserver

---

6. camelCase (Lower Camel Case)

The first word starts with a lowercase letter. Each subsequent word begins with an uppercase letter.

numberOfDonuts = 34;
favePhrase = "Hello World";
startTime = new Date();
podIP = "10.244.0.5";

Common Uses

• JavaScript
• Java
• Go (unexported identifiers)
• Kubernetes API fields

Example (Kubernetes):

status:
  podIP: 10.244.0.5
  hostIP: 192.168.1.10
  startTime: "2026-07-11T10:00:00Z"

---

7. PascalCase (Upper Camel Case)

Similar to camelCase, but the first word also starts with an uppercase letter.

NumberOfDonuts
FavePhrase
PodInfo
StartTime

Common Uses

• Class names
• Struct names
• Interfaces
• Go exported identifiers
• C#

---

8. Train-Case

Each word starts with a capital letter and is separated by a hyphen (-).

Number-Of-Donuts
Fave-Phrase
Pod-IP

Common Uses

• Document titles
• Some configuration formats

---

9. dot.case

Words are separated by periods (.).

app.name
user.email
pod.ip

Common Uses

• Configuration keys
• Package names
• Properties files

---

10. Title Case

Each word starts with a capital letter and words are separated by spaces.

Number Of Donuts
Fave Phrase
Pod IP

Common Uses

• Headings
• Documentation
• UI labels

---

Acronyms in Naming Conventions

Many APIs preserve acronyms in uppercase.

Examples:

podIP
hostIP
clusterIP
userID
apiURL

Some projects instead use:

podIp
hostIp
userId
apiUrl

Kubernetes follows the first style, so the correct field names are:

status:
  podIP: 10.244.0.5
  hostIP: 192.168.1.10

Example:

kubectl get pod nginx \
-o jsonpath='{.status.podIP}'

---

Summary

Case	Example	Common Uses
lowercase	podip	File names, simple identifiers
UPPERCASE	PODIP	Constants
snake_case	pod_ip	Python, databases
SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE	POD_IP	Environment variables
kebab-case	pod-ip	URLs, CSS, Kubernetes resource names
camelCase	podIP	JavaScript, Java, Kubernetes API
PascalCase	PodIP	Classes, Go exported types, C#
Train-Case	Pod-IP	Titles
dot.case	pod.ip	Configuration keys
Title Case	Pod IP	Documentation headings

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