When it comes to naming things in databases and languages, there are various common standards. For many languages the
camel family of namings is very popular. For unix based databases
usually UPPER or lower _ is the choice and for databases such as SQL Server and MySQL which allow you to name your columns with mixed casing
but couldn't care less what case you express them in selects, you get a mish mush of styles depending on what camp the database user originated from.
So to summarize the key styles and the family of people
- camelCase : lastName - employed by SmallTalk, Java, Flex, C++ and various C derivative languages.
- Pascal Case: (a variant of Camel Case) -- LastName which is employed by C#, VB.NET, Pascal (and Delphi), and SQL Server (and some MySQL windows converts). Also often used for class names by languages that use standard camelCase for function names.
- lower case _ last_name : often found in C, a favorite among PostgreSQL database users. (some MySQL)
- upper case _ LAST_NAME : a favorite among Oracle Users (some MySQL Oracle defectors)
Being at the cross roads of all the above, we often have to deal with the various above as well as having internal schizophrenic strife and external fights.
The internal turmoil is the worst and is worse than an ambidextrous person trying to figure out which hand to use in battle. For these exercises, we'll demonstrate one way how to convert between the various conventions. These
are the first thoughts that came to our mind, so may not be the most elegant.
