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Re: underscores



osiris@cs.utexas.edu (Rob Browning)  wrote on 27.05.96 in <[🔎] 87g28l4fcl.fsf@raven.ots.utexas.edu>:

> bruce@pixar.com (Bruce Perens) writes:
>
> > > A:	package-name_1.2.3-1_i386.deb
> > > B:	package_name-1.2.3_1-i386.deb
>
> > In my honest opinion convention "A" is easier to explain. It also
> > tends to do the right thing even with such simple-minded Unix commands
> > as "sort -t_", "cut -d_", and so on.
>
> I agree, but then again I'm used to lisp where "-" is the most common
> word separator, so I don't have as much of a bias against it as those
> only used to "_".

As for "-" as commonly used word separator, there's also:

* mailing list names
* newsgroup names
* domain names

Also, at least in the English and German language, words that somehow  
belong together use a "-", and something very much like a "_" is sometimes  
used to make explicit where blanks go (like in handwritten program texts).

All in all, I prefer "_" as a field delimiter and "-" as a word separator.

However, that's a matter of taste.

MfG Kai


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