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I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

I help implement the Content Authenticity Initiative at Adobe.

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I’m careful with acronyms

18 September 2025

I pay attention to how acronyms and proper names are actually used in common English.

Most of the acronyms we use in tech are solid caps, so I use them that way in comments and documentation.

Example 1. Acronyms follow common capitalization

// Read the XMP from this file.

Example 2. Acronyms are written in lower-case

// Read the xmp from this file.

But some acronyms aren’t solid caps, and I try to use them the way their creators intended. For example, I work in digital imaging where Exif is commonly written incorrectly.

Example 3. Unusual acronyms follow their convention

// Read the Exif from this file.

Example 4. Unusual acronyms capitalized despite common convention

// Read the EXIF from this file.

Exception: Identifier names follow the language convention

Following the precedent I set in I try to fit in, I make an exception for identifiers in code. When the language has its own conventions for handling acronyms, I go with those instead.

In Rust, for example, this means camel-case and snake-case conventions win out.

Example 5. Identifier follows Rust convention

struct XmpFileReader {
    // ...
}

Example 6. Identifier in all caps despite language convention

struct XMPFileReader {
    // ...
}

I’m careful with acronyms

Exception: Identifier names follow the language convention

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