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bashposixflagscommand-line-arguments

Should command line options in POSIX-style operating systems be underscore style?

Should the name of command line options for a program in a POSIX-style operating system be underscore-style, like

--cure_world_hunger

or maybe some other style?

--cureworldhunger
--cure-world-hunger
--cureWorldHunger

What's most common? What's better style? What's more Bash-friendly (if such a thing exist)?

Solution

  • Underscore is not a good idea, sometimes it gets "eaten" by a terminal border and thus look like a space.

    The easiest to read, and most standard way is to use a dash/hyphen:

    --cure-world-hunger