camelCase, snake_case and PascalCase: Every Naming Convention Explained

Why Naming Conventions Exist

Every programming team eventually faces the same question: should a variable be named 'userEmail', 'user_email', 'UserEmail' or 'USER_EMAIL'? The answer depends on the programming language, the context and the team's conventions.

Naming conventions exist for communication, not aesthetics. When everyone follows consistent conventions, a name communicates what type of thing it represents. Constants look different from variables. Class names look different from function names. You glance at a piece of code and immediately orient yourself without reading anything else.

Inconsistent naming in a codebase is disorienting in the same way that a book switching between languages mid-sentence would be. Technically readable but slower and more effortful than it should be.

Every Major Convention Explained

camelCase starts the first word in lowercase and each subsequent word with a capital letter: 'getUserById', 'totalOrderCount', 'isLoggedIn'. Used for variable names and function names in JavaScript, Java, C# and many other languages.

PascalCase starts every word including the first with a capital letter: 'UserProfile', 'ShoppingCart', 'GetUserById'. Used for class names in most object-oriented languages and for component names in React and other UI frameworks.

snake_case uses all lowercase with words separated by underscores: 'user_email', 'total_order_count', 'get_user_by_id'. Standard in Python for functions and variables, also used for database column names and in Ruby and Rust.

SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE uses all uppercase with underscores: 'MAX_RETRIES', 'DATABASE_URL', 'API_KEY'. Universal convention for constants and environment variables across all languages.

kebab-case uses all lowercase with hyphens: 'user-profile', 'main-container', 'primary-button'. Not valid in most programming languages where the hyphen is interpreted as subtraction, but standard for CSS class names, HTML attributes, URL slugs and file names.

Title Case capitalises the first letter of each word and is used in headings, titles and user-facing display text.

Language Conventions Quick Reference

JavaScript uses camelCase for variables and functions, PascalCase for classes and React components.

Python uses snake_case for functions and variables, PascalCase for classes, SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE for constants.

Java and C# use camelCase for variables and methods, PascalCase for classes and interfaces.

CSS uses kebab-case for class names and custom property names.

SQL uses UPPERCASE for keywords, snake_case for column and table names.

URL paths and slugs use kebab-case.

Environment variables use SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE universally.

Converting Between Formats

Our Text Case Converter transforms any text between all major formats instantly. Paste a sentence or variable name and convert to camelCase, PascalCase, snake_case, SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE, kebab-case or any standard text case format.

Useful when renaming variables during refactoring, converting database column names to JavaScript property names or preparing text for different output contexts like a CSS class, URL slug or display heading.