What is the javascript filename naming convention? [closed]

Question

Should files be named something-with-hyphens.js, camelCased.js, or something else?

I didn't find the answer to this question here.

Answer 1

One possible naming convention is to use something similar to the naming scheme jQuery uses. It's not universally adopted but it is pretty common.

product-name.plugin-ver.sion.filetype.js 

where the product-name + plugin pair can also represent a namespace and a module. The version and filetype are usually optional.

filetype can be something relative to how the content of the file is. Often seen are:

• min for minified files
• custom for custom built or modified files

Examples:

• jquery-1.4.2.min.js
• jquery.plugin-0.1.js
• myapp.invoice.js

Answer 2

I'm not aware of any particular convention for javascript files as they aren't really unique on the web versus css files or html files or any other type of file like that. There are some "safe" things you can do that make it less likely you will accidentally run into a cross platform issue:

1. Use all lowercase filenames. There are some operating systems that are not case sensitive for filenames and using all lowercase prevents inadvertently using two files that differ only in case that might not work on some operating systems.
2. Don't use spaces in the filename. While this technically can be made to work there are lots of reasons why spaces in filenames can lead to problems.
3. A hyphen is OK for a word separator. If you want to use some sort of separator for multiple words instead of a space or camelcase as in various-scripts.js, a hyphen is a safe and useful and commonly used separator.
4. Think about using version numbers in your filenames. When you want to upgrade your scripts, plan for the effects of browser or CDN caching. The simplest way to use long term caching (for speed and efficiency), but immediate and safe upgrades when you upgrade a JS file is to include a version number in the deployed filename or path (like jQuery does with jquery-1.6.2.js) and then you bump/change that version number whenever you upgrade/change the file. This will guarantee that no page that requests the newer version is ever served the older version from a cache.