Why does the standard C++ library use all lower case?

Question

Just curious why the C++ standard library uses all lower case and underscores instead of camelCase or PascalCase naming convention.

Personally, I find the latter much easier to deal with when typing out code, but is there some kind of legitimate reason to use the former?

I'm assuming it's to keep the conventions the same as C. – GWW Mar 24 '11 at 03:48 — GWW, Mar 24 '11 at 03:48
Not *all* lower case. Macros are `ALL_CAPS`. – dan04 May 06 '11 at 00:23 — dan04, May 06 '11 at 00:23

score 25 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 06 '18 at 09:00

25

Main reason : To keep compatibility with the existing code, since they have done it with C also.

Also have a look at these C++ Coding standards, which presents some generic reasoning regarding the importance of convention.

These links discusses about the naming conventions of C/C++ Standard Library.

edited Nov 06 '18 at 09:00

Sebastian Mach

38,570
8
95
130

answered Mar 24 '11 at 03:47

Saurabh Gokhale

53,625
36
139
164

Useful link. Thanks! Here's another set of guidelines I've used in the past http://google-styleguide.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/cppguide.xml – Ade Miller Mar 24 '11 at 03:56
That's what I thought, and I do agree with the reasoning...but I think Microsoft would do well to agree as well XD – CuriousGeorge Mar 24 '11 at 04:56
24

*"go through the C++ Coding standards"* - they're not *the* standards, they're one person's attempt to write up what they consider best practice, and at odds with many other peoples' equally-valid preferences. The way you've phrased it implies the linked suggestions have more credibility than they do. A quick google would turn up dozens of alternative standards - they best idea is to read over a few to flesh out some background knowledge of the pros and cons on any specific issue, then look at what practices the code base you're working in is already using - see whether it's worth changing. – Tony Delroy Sep 07 '15 at 09:05
1

I have rewritten the section talking about "the" coding standard. As it was, the message possibly implied was simply wrong. – Sebastian Mach Nov 06 '18 at 09:01

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 24 '11 at 03:49

Convention. They've done it that way all along, since the C days and before...and didn't see a good reason to break from that convention (not to mention potentially break compatibility with tons of existing code) just to add caps to a bunch of function names.

Why does the standard C++ library use all lower case?

2 Answers2

Linked