Glossary
Snake Case
A naming convention that uses underscores to separate words in lowercase text.
Definition
Snake case is a naming convention in which spaces between words are replaced with underscores and all letters are typically lowercase: this_is_snake_case. Snake case is widely used in Python programming for variable names, function names, and file names, and in database column names.
Why It Matters
Snake case is the PEP 8 style guide standard for Python variables and function names. In database design, snake case column names are a widely adopted convention that avoids reserved word conflicts and makes queries more readable.
Examples
Python variableuser_age, total_word_count, is_authenticated
Database columncreated_at, first_name, email_address
File nameword_count_calculator.py, seo_audit_report.csv
Common Mistakes
Using snake_case in URLs — hyphens are preferred for SEO.
Mixing snake_case and camelCase within the same codebase.
Forgetting that file names are often case-sensitive on Linux servers.
Using UPPER_SNAKE_CASE for regular variables — reserved for constants.