Which programming case do you prefer (for MATLAB code)?
Chen Lin
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Poll will close on 30 Jun 2026
camelCase (variableName)
39%
PascalCase (VariableName)
11%
no capitalization (variablename)
4%
snake_case (variable_name)
36%
It varies for me
11%
28 votes
7 Comments
Time Descending
I prefer snake case for most variable names, mainly because it is different than the capitalization styles used by MathWorks developers for other kinds of identifiers. It was a common capitalization style for C, back when I started programming with it in the late 1980s, so I was familiar and comfortable with it. I was disappointed that the recent coding style documentation provided by MathWorks specified a variable naming style that is the same as that used for function names.
For variable names that are based on mathematical symbols, I usually capitalize to approximate the symbols. For example, I'll use H for the Fourier transform of h, and I'll use Fs to mean sampling frequency.
I think you know who to blame for that standard 👀! I was one of the louder voices in the variable naming standards. I tried to leave room for Cleve's beautiful mathematical style and reflect common usage patterns in the examples that we ship with MATLAB (with a bias towards longer, more readable names, where appropriate).
And I think you know I've never been a fan of snake case. I also like kebab-case lately for naming some things, but that's because I've been living in the world of GitHub and AI tools.
It wasn't my intent to give you a hard time here, Michelle. You and I together learned to face the reality that every standardization effort will make at least some people unhappy. 🤷♂️ This is just a situation where I will take advantage of my MathWorks retirement to go my own way. 🙂
I kind of like kebab-case (variable-name), as hyphens are easier to repeatedly type than underscores. But it is not supported in MATLAB, due to ambiguity with subtraction, given the first-class status of that operation.
"(with a bias towards longer, more readable names, where appropriate)."
If there is one specific thing I do detest and strongly dislike the trend in MATLAB, it is the excessive length names. I think all the extra is more visual clutter to wade through to see the actual form than the name information can possibly make up for. If there's possible amibiguity or may abbreviating is hard, that's what comments are for.
Comments can become out of date as code changes. Well-thought names for variables, functions, classes, etc. help reduce the context required for understanding.
I am not saying that comments are always bad. Rather, they should convey supplemental information, like why a certain approach/algorithm was used, reference materials, etc.
Which names are you referring to @dpb? Names from functions shipped by MathWorks, names in code you see people use, or something else?
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