Editing Letter case (section)

==Stylistic or specialised usage==
{{Globalize|section|Anglophone|2name=[[English-speaking world|the English-speaking world]]|date=September 2013}}[[File:Headline.png|thumb|182px|Alternating all-caps and headline styles at the start of a ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' report published in November 1919. (The event reported is [[Arthur Eddington]]'s [[Experimentum crucis|test]] of [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]'s [[General relativity|theory of general relativity]].)]]

In English, a variety of case styles are used in various circumstances:

; {{anchor|Sentence case|Sentence Case|Sentence-case|Sentencecase}}Sentence case
: "[[The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog]]"<br /> A mixed-case style in which the first word of the sentence is capitalised, as well as proper nouns and other words as required by a more specific rule. This is generally equivalent to the baseline universal standard of formal English orthography.
: In [[computer programming]], the initial capital is easier to automate than the other rules. For example, on English-language [[Wikipedia]], the first character in [[Wikipedia:Article titles|page titles]] is capitalised by default. Because the other rules are more complex, [[substring]]s for [[concatenation]] into sentences are commonly written in "mid-sentence case", applying all the rules of sentence case except the initial capital.
; {{anchor|Title case|Title Case|Title-case|Titlecase|Capital case|Capital Case|Capital-case|Capitalcase|Initial caps|Initial Caps|Initial-caps|Initialcaps}}[[Title case]] (capital case, headline style)
: "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps over the Lazy Dog"<br /> A mixed-case style with all words capitalised, except for certain subsets (particularly [[Article (grammar)|articles]] and short [[preposition]]s and [[Conjunction (grammar)|conjunctions]]) defined by rules that are not universally standardised. The standardisation is only at the level of house styles and individual [[style manual]]s. {{crossreference|printworthy=y|(See further explanation below at {{section link||Headings and publication titles}}.)}}
; {{anchor|Start case|Start Case|Start-case|Startcase|Initial caps|Initial Caps|Initial-caps|Initialcaps}} Start case (First letter of each word capitalized)
: "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog"<br /> ''Start case,'' ''initial caps'' or ''proper case'' is a simplified variant of title case. In [[text processing]], start case usually involves the capitalisation of all words irrespective of their [[part of speech]].
; {{anchor|All caps|All-caps|All Caps|All capitals|All Capitals|All-capitals|Uppercase|Upper-case|Upper case|Upper Case|All uppercase|All Uppercase|All-uppercase|All upper-case|All upper case}}[[All caps]] (all uppercase)
: "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG"<br /> A unicase style with capital letters only. This can be used in headings and special situations, such as for typographical emphasis in text made on a typewriter. With the advent of the [[Internet]], the all-caps style is more often used for emphasis; however, it is considered poor [[netiquette]] by some to type in all capitals, and said to be tantamount to shouting.<ref name="RFC1855">RFC 1855 "Netiquette Guidelines"</ref> Long spans of Latin-alphabet text in all upper-case are more difficult to read because of the absence of the [[Ascender (typography)|ascenders]] and [[descender]]s found in lower-case letters, which aids recognition and legibility. In some cultures it is common to write family names in all caps to distinguish them from the given names, especially in identity documents such as passports. Certain musicians—such as [[Marina Diamandis|Marina]] and [[Finneas O'Connell|Finneas]], who are both known mononymously, and some bands such as [[Haim (band)|Haim]] and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]]—have their names stylised in all caps. Additionally, it is common for bands with vowelless names (a process colourfully known as "[[disemvoweling]]") to use all caps, with prominent examples including [[Strfkr|STRFKR]], [[Mstrkrft|MSTRKRFT]], [[Pwr Bttm|PWR BTTM]], [[Sbtrkt|SBTRKT]], [[Hotel Mira|JPNSGRLS]] (now known as Hotel Mira), [[Blk Jks|BLK JKS]], [[MNDR]], and [[Dwntwn|DWNTWN]].
; {{anchor|Small caps|Small-caps|Small Caps|Small capitals|Small Capitals|Small-capitals}}[[Small caps]]
: "{{smallcaps|The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog}}"<br />Similar in form to capital letters but roughly the size of a lower-case "x", small caps can be used instead of lower-case letters and combined with regular caps in a mixed-case fashion. This is a feature of certain fonts, such as [[Copperplate Gothic]]. According to various typographical traditions, the height of small caps can be equal to or slightly larger than the [[x-height]] of the typeface (the smaller variant is sometimes called ''petite caps'' and may also be mixed with the larger variant).<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/features_pt.htm#pcap | title = Registered features – definitions and implementations | website = OpenType Layout tag registry | at = Tag:'pcap', Tag: 'smcp' | publisher = Microsoft | access-date = 24 March 2017 }}</ref> Small caps can be used for acronyms, names, mathematical entities, computer commands in printed text, business or personal printed stationery letterheads, and other situations where a given phrase needs to be distinguished from the main text.
; {{anchor|Lower case|Lower Case|Lower-case|All lowercase|All-lowercase|All Lowercase|All lower-case|All lower case}}All lowercase
:"the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
:A unicase style with no capital letters. This is sometimes used for artistic effect, such as in poetry. Also commonly seen in computer languages, and in informal electronic communications such as [[SMS language]] and [[instant messaging]] (avoiding the [[shift key]], to type more quickly). Examples in music are relatively common. For example, several of [[Taylor Swift]]'s albums, including ''[[Reputation (album)|reputation]]'', ''[[Folklore (Taylor Swift album)|folklore]]'', and ''[[evermore]]'', were all stylised in lowercase. Bands such as [[Weezer]] and [[Silverchair]] were also stylised in lowercase for multiple albums during their respective careers, with the former consistently using lowercase in their logo since their [[Weezer (Blue Album)|first studio album]]. [[Billie Eilish]]'s debut studio album—''[[When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?]]''—has all of its tracks stylised in lowercase. Some people, such as author [[bell hooks]], write their names in all lowercase. Fully lowercase stylisation has been linked to the "disavowal of hierarchy", and on the Internet, frequently serves as "shorthand for authenticity and vulnerability".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grady |first=Kitty |date=August 28, 2020 |title=The Rise of the 'Lowercase Girl' |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/internet-lowercase-spelling-taylor-swift-charli-xcx/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/GsTPc |archive-date=December 2, 2024 |access-date=December 2, 2024 |website=[[Vice Media|Vice]]}}</ref>
{| style="margin:0 auto 1.5em;font-size:95%;background:white;text-align:center;"
|+ style="text-align:left;font-size:110%;font-weight:bold;"| A comparison of various case styles (from most to least capitals used)
|- style="text-align:left;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;"
| ''Case style''
|colspan="8"| ''Example''
|style="padding-left:1.0em;"| ''Description''

|- style="background:#d0d0d0;"
|style="background:white;text-align:left;"| All-caps
| &nbsp;THE&nbsp; || &nbsp;VITAMINS&nbsp; || &nbsp;ARE&nbsp; || &nbsp;IN&nbsp; || &nbsp;MY&nbsp; || &nbsp;FRESH&nbsp; || &nbsp;CALIFORNIA&nbsp; || &nbsp;RAISINS&nbsp;
|style="background:white;padding-left:1.0em;text-align:left;"| All letters uppercase

|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
|style="background:white;text-align:left;"| Start case
| The || Vitamins || Are || In || My || Fresh || California || Raisins
|style="background:white;padding-left:1.0em;text-align:left;"| All words capitalised regardless of [[Part of speech|function]]

|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
|style="background:white;text-align:left;"| Title case
| The || Vitamins || Are ||style="background:#f0f0f0;"| in || My || Fresh || California || Raisins
|style="background:white;padding-left:1.0em;text-align:left;"| The first word and all other words capitalised except for [[Article (grammar)|articles]] and short [[preposition]]s and [[Grammatical conjunction|conjunctions]]

|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
|style="background:white;text-align:left;padding-right:1.0em;"| German, and Bavarian-style sentence case
| The || Vitamins ||style="background:#f0f0f0;"| are ||style="background:#f0f0f0;"| in ||style="background:#f0f0f0;"| my ||style="background:#f0f0f0;"| fresh || California || Raisins
|style="background:white;padding-left:1.0em;text-align:left;"| The first word and all [[noun]]s capitalised

|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|style="background:white;text-align:left;"| Sentence case
|style="background:#e0e0e0;"| The || vitamins || are || in || my || fresh ||style="background:#e0e0e0;"| California || raisins
|style="background:white;padding-left:1.0em;text-align:left;"| The first word, [[proper noun]]s and some specified words capitalised

|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|style="background:white;text-align:left;"| Mid-sentence case
| the || vitamins || are || in || my || fresh ||style="background:#e0e0e0;"| California || raisins
|style="background:white;padding-left:1.0em;text-align:left;"| As above but excepting special treatment of the first word

|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|style="background:white;text-align:left;"| All-lowercase
| the || vitamins || are || in || my || fresh || {{not a typo|california}} || raisins
|style="background:white;padding-left:1.0em;text-align:left;"| All letters lowercase (unconventional in English prose)
|}

=== Headings and publication titles ===
In English-language publications, various conventions are used for the capitalisation of words in [[Title (publishing)|publication title]]s and [[headline]]s, including chapter and section headings. The rules differ substantially between individual house styles.

The convention followed by many British [[publisher]]s (including scientific publishers like ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' and ''[[New Scientist]]'', magazines like ''[[The Economist]]'', and newspapers like ''[[The Guardian]]'' and ''[[The Times]]'') and many U.S. newspapers is sentence-style capitalisation in headlines, i.e. capitalisation follows the same rules that apply for sentences. This convention is usually called ''sentence case''. It may also be applied to publication titles, especially in bibliographic references and library catalogues. An example of a global publisher whose English-language house style prescribes sentence-case titles and headings is the [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO).{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

For publication titles it is, however, a common typographic practice among both British<ref name="Guardian" /> and U.S. publishers to capitalise significant words (and in the United States, this is often applied to headings, too). This family of typographic conventions is usually called ''[[title case]]''. For example, R.&nbsp;M. Ritter's ''Oxford Manual of Style'' (2002) suggests capitalising "the first word and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs, but generally not articles, conjunctions and short prepositions".<ref name="Ritter 2002" /> This is an old form of [[Emphasis (typography)|emphasis]], similar to the more modern practice of using a larger or boldface font for titles. The rules which prescribe which words to capitalise are not based on any grammatically inherent correct&ndash;incorrect distinction and are not universally standardised; they differ between style guides, although most style guides tend to follow a few strong conventions, as follows:
* Most styles capitalise all words except for short [[Closed class|closed-class]] words (certain [[Part of speech|parts of speech]], namely, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions); but the first word (always) and last word (in many styles) are also capitalised, regardless of their part of speech. Many styles capitalise longer prepositions such as "between" and "throughout", but not shorter ones such as "for" and "with".<ref name="Berdine" /> Typically, a preposition is considered short if it has up to three or four letters.
* A few styles capitalise all words in title case (the so-called ''start case''), which has the advantage of being easy to implement and hard to get "wrong" (that is, "not edited to style"). Because of this rule's simplicity, software [[#Case folding|case-folding]] routines can handle 95% or more of the editing, especially if they are programmed for desired exceptions (such as "FBI" rather than "Fbi").
* As for whether hyphenated words are capitalised not only at the beginning but also after the hyphen, there is no universal standard; variation occurs [[Linguistic description|in the wild]] and among house styles (e.g., "The Letter-''C''ase Rule in My Book"; "Short-''t''erm Follow-''u''p Care for Burns"). Traditional copyediting makes a distinction between ''temporary compounds'' (such as many [[Nonce word|nonce]] [novel instance] [[compound modifier]]s), in which every part of the hyphenated word is capitalised (e.g. "How This Particular Author Chose to Style His ''A''utumn-''A''pple-''P''icking Heading"), and ''permanent compounds'', which are terms that, although compound and hyphenated, are so well established that dictionaries enter them as [[headword]]s (e.g., "Short-''t''erm Follow-''u''p Care for Burns").

Title case is widely used in many English-language publications, especially in the United States. However, its conventions are sometimes not followed strictly{{Snd}}especially in informal writing.

In creative typography, such as music record covers and other artistic material, all styles are commonly encountered, including all-lowercase letters and special case styles, such as [[studly caps]] (see below). For example, in the [[wordmark]]s of video games it is not uncommon to use stylised upper-case letters at the beginning and end of a title, with the intermediate letters in small caps or lower case (e.g., [[Arcania: Gothic 4|{{smallcaps|ArcaniA}}]], [[ARMA: Armed Assault|{{smallcaps|ArmA}}]], and [[DmC: Devil May Cry|DmC]]).

=== Multi-word proper nouns ===
Single-word [[proper nouns]] are capitalised in formal written English, unless the name is intentionally stylised to break this rule (such as [[e e cummings]], [[bell hooks]], [[eden ahbez]], and [[danah boyd]]).

Multi-word proper nouns include names of organisations, publications, and people. Often the rules for "title case" (described in the previous section) are applied to these names, so that non-initial articles, conjunctions, and short prepositions are lowercase, and all other words are uppercase. For example, the short preposition "of" and the article "the" are lowercase in "Steering Committee of the Finance Department". Usually only capitalised words are used to form an [[acronym]] variant of the name, though there is some variation in this.

With [[personal names]], this practice can vary (sometimes all words are capitalised, regardless of length or function), but is not limited to English names. Examples include the English names [[Tamar of Georgia]] and [[Catherine the Great]], "[[van (Dutch)|van]]" and "der" in [[Dutch name]]s, "[[von]]" and "zu" in [[German name|German]], "de", "los", and "y" in [[Spanish naming customs|Spanish names]], "de" or "d'" in [[French name]]s, and "ibn" in [[Arabic name]]s.

Some surname prefixes also affect the capitalisation of the following internal letter or word, for example "Mac" in [[Surname#Celtic compound names|Celtic names]] and "Al" in Arabic names.

{{Anchor|Special case styles|Special Case Styles|Special-case-styles}}

===Unit symbols and prefixes in the metric system===
[[File:SI base units.svg|thumb|Of the seven [[SI base unit|SI base-unit]] symbols, "A" ([[ampere]] for [[electric current]]) and "K" ([[kelvin]] for [[temperature]]), both named after people, are always written in upper case, whereas "s" ([[second]] for [[time]]), "m" ([[metre]] for [[length]]), "kg" ([[kilogram]] for [[mass]]), "cd" ([[candela]] for [[luminous intensity]]), and "mol" ([[Mole (unit)|mole]] for [[amount of substance]]) are written in lower case.]]

In the [[International System of Units]] (SI), a letter usually has different meanings in upper and lower case when used as a unit symbol. Generally, unit symbols are written in lower case, but if the name of the unit is derived from a proper noun, the first letter of the symbol is capitalised. Nevertheless, the ''name'' of the unit, if spelled out, is always considered a common noun and written accordingly in lower case.<ref name="SI brochure" /> For example:

* 1&nbsp;s (one&nbsp;[[second]]) when used for the [[SI base unit|base unit]] of [[time]].
* 1&nbsp;S (one&nbsp;[[siemens (unit)|siemens]]) when used for the unit of [[electric conductance]] and [[admittance]] (named after [[Werner von Siemens]]).
* 1&nbsp;Sv (one&nbsp;[[sievert]]), used for the unit of [[ionising radiation]] dose (named after [[Rolf Maximilian Sievert]]).

For the purpose of clarity, the symbol for [[litre]] can optionally be written in upper case even though the name is not derived from a proper noun.<ref name="SI brochure" /> For example, "one&nbsp;litre" may be written as:

* {{not a typo|1 l}}, the original form, for typefaces in which "digit one" {{angbr|1}}, "lower-case ell" {{angbr|l}}, and "upper-case i" {{angbr|I}} look different.
* 1&nbsp;L, an alternative form, for typefaces in which these characters are difficult to distinguish, or the typeface the reader will be using is unknown. A "[[ℓ|script l]]" in various typefaces (e.g.: 1&nbsp;<span style="font-family: cursive;">l</span>) has traditionally been used in some countries to prevent confusion; however, the separate [[Unicode character]] which represents this, {{Unichar|2113|SCRIPT SMALL L}}, is deprecated by the [[International System of Units|SI]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/beta/nameslist/n_2100.html|title=Letterlike symbols|work=Charts (Beta)|publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]]|access-date=28 July 2017}}</ref> Another solution sometimes seen in [[Web typography]] is to use a serif font for "lower-case ell" in otherwise sans-serif material (1&nbsp;<span style="font-family: serif;">l</span>).

The letter case of a prefix symbol is determined independently of the unit symbol to which it is attached. Lower case is used for all submultiple prefix symbols and the small multiple prefix symbols up to "k" (for [[kilo-|kilo]], meaning 10<sup>3</sup> = 1000 multiplier), whereas upper case is used for larger multipliers:<ref name="SI brochure" />

* 1&nbsp;mW, [[watt|milliwatt]], a small measure of [[power (physics)|power]] ("m" for [[milli-|milli]], meaning 10<sup>−3</sup> = 1/1000 multiplier).
* 1&nbsp;MW, megawatt, a large measure of power ("M" for [[mega-|mega]], meaning 10<sup>6</sup> = 1&nbsp;000&nbsp;000 multiplier).
* 1&nbsp;mS, [[millisiemens]], a small measure of electric conductance.
* 1&nbsp;MS, megasiemens, a large measure of electric conductance.
* 1&nbsp;mm, millimetre, a small measure of [[length]].
* 1&nbsp;Mm, megametre, a large measure of length.

===Use within programming languages===
{{See also|Naming convention (programming)#Multiple-word identifiers}}
Some case styles are not used in standard English, but are common in [[computer programming]], product [[brand]]ing, or other specialised fields.

The usage derives from how programming languages are [[parsing|parsed]], programmatically. They generally separate their syntactic tokens by simple [[Whitespace character|whitespace]], including [[space character]]s, [[tab key|tabs]], and [[newline]]s. When the tokens, such as function and variable names start to multiply in complex [[software development]], and there is still a need to keep the [[source code]] human-readable, [[Naming convention (programming)|Naming conventions]] make this possible. So for example, a function dealing with matrix multiplication might formally be called:

* {{code|SGEMM(*)}}, with the asterisk standing in for an equally inscrutable list of 13 parameters (in [[Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms|BLAS]]),
* {{code|MultiplyMatrixByMatrix(Matrix x, Matrix y)}}, in some hypothetical higher level [[manifest typing|manifestly typed]] language, broadly following the syntax of [[C++]] or [[Java (programming language)|Java]],
* {{code|multiply-matrix-by-matrix(x, y)}} in something derived from [[LISP]], or perhaps
* {{code|(multiply (x y))}} in the [[Common Lisp Object System|CLOS]], or some newer derivative language supporting [[type inference]] and [[multiple dispatch]].

In each case, the capitalisation or lack thereof supports a different function. In the first, [[FORTRAN]] compatibility requires case-insensitive naming and short function names. The second supports easily discernible function and argument names and types, within the context of an imperative, strongly typed language. The third supports the macro facilities of LISP, and its tendency to view programs and data minimalistically, and as interchangeable. The fourth idiom needs much less [[syntactic sugar]] overall, because much of the semantics are implied, but because of its brevity and so lack of the need for capitalization or multipart words at all, might also make the code too abstract and [[homonymy|overloaded]] for the common programmer to understand.

Understandably then, such coding conventions are [[programming style|highly subjective]], and can lead to rather opinionated debate, such as in the case of [[editor war]]s, or those about [[indent style]]. Capitalisation is no exception.

====Camel case====
{{main|Camel case}}
{{blockquote|"theQuickBrownFoxJumpsOverTheLazyDog" or "TheQuickBrownFoxJumpsOverTheLazyDog"}}
Spaces and [[punctuation]] are removed and the first letter of each word is capitalised. If this includes the first letter of the first word (CamelCase, "[[PowerPoint]]", "TheQuick...", etc.), the case is sometimes called '''upper camel case''' (or, illustratively, '''CamelCase'''), '''Pascal case''' in reference to the [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal programming language]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/brada/history-around-pascal-casing-and-camel-casing|title=History around Pascal Casing and Camel Casing|date=3 February 2004 }}</ref> or '''bumpy case'''.

When the first letter of the first word is lowercase ("[[iPod]]", "[[eBay]]", "theQuickBrownFox..."), the case is usually known as '''lower camel case''' or '''dromedary case''' (illustratively: '''dromedaryCase'''). This format has become popular in the branding of [[information technology]] products and services, with an initial "i" meaning "[[Internet]]" or "intelligent",{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} as in [[iPod]], or an initial "e" meaning "electronic", as in [[email]] (electronic mail) or [[e-commerce]] (electronic commerce).

====Snake case====
{{main|Snake case}}
{{blockquote|"the_quick_brown_fox_jumps_over_the_lazy_dog"}}
Punctuation is removed and spaces are replaced by single [[underscore]]s. Normally the letters share the same case (e.g. "UPPER_CASE_EMBEDDED_UNDERSCORE" or "lower_case_embedded_underscore") but the case can be mixed, as in [[OCaml]] variant constructors (e.g. "Upper_then_lowercase").<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://caml.inria.fr/resources/doc/guides/guidelines.en.html|title=Caml programming guidelines|website=caml.inria.fr|language=en|access-date=2017-03-31}}</ref> The style may also be called ''pothole case'', especially in [[Python (programming language)|Python]] programming, in which this convention is often used for naming variables. Illustratively, it may be rendered ''snake_case'', ''pothole_case'', etc.. When all-upper-case, it may be referred to as ''screaming snake case'' (or ''SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE'') or ''hazard case''.<ref name="Ruby" />

====Kebab case====
{{blockquote|"the-quick-brown-fox-jumps-over-the-lazy-dog"}}
Similar to snake case, above, except [[hyphen]]s rather than underscores are used to replace spaces. It is also known as '''spinal case''', '''param case''', '''Lisp case''' in reference to the [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp programming language]], or '''dash case''' (or illustratively as '''kebab-case''', looking similar to the skewer that sticks through a [[kebab]]). If every word is capitalised, the style is known as '''train case''' (''TRAIN-CASE'').<ref>{{cite web |date=15 January 2023 |title=Programming naming conventions |website=Pluralsight |url=https://www.pluralsight.com/resources/blog/software-development/programming-naming-conventions-explained#train-case |at=11. Train case |access-date=16 November 2024 }}</ref>

In [[CSS]], all property names and most keyword values are primarily formatted in kebab case.

==== Middot case ====
{{blockquote|"the·quick·brown·fox·jumps·over·the·lazy·dog"}}
Similar to kebab case, above, except it uses [[interpunct]] rather than underscores to replace spaces. Its use is possible in many programming languages supporting Unicode identifiers, as unlike the hyphen it generally doesn't conflict with a reserved use for denoting an operator, albeit exceptions such as [[Julia (programming language)|Julia]] exist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Variables · The Julia Language |url=https://docs.julialang.org/en/v1/manual/variables/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=docs.julialang.org |language=en}}</ref> Its lack of visibility in most standard keyboard layouts certainly contribute to its infrequent employ, though most modern input facility allow to reach it rather easily.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the meaning of an interpunct (·) in C? |url=https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15396199/what-is-the-meaning-of-an-interpunct-in-c |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Stack Overflow |language=en}}</ref>

=== Studly caps ===
{{blockquote|"tHeqUicKBrOWnFoXJUmpsoVeRThElAzydOG"}}
Studly caps are an arbitrary mixing of the cases with no [[Semantics|semantic]] or [[Syntax|syntactic]] significance to the use of the capitals. Sometimes only [[vowel]]s are upper case, at other times upper and lower case are alternated, but often it is simply random. The name comes from the sarcastic or ironic implication that it was used in an attempt by the writer to convey their own [[coolness]] ([[wikt:studly|studliness]]).{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} It is also used to mock the violation of standard English case conventions by marketers in the naming of computer software packages, even when there is no technical requirement to do so{{snd}}e.g., [[Sun Microsystems]]' naming of a windowing system [[NeWS]]. Illustrative naming of the style is, naturally, random: ''stUdlY cAps'', ''StUdLy CaPs'', etc..