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Lyth

ADR 0010: Verbatim Go names; `pub` and capitalization

Status: Superseded by 0022

Context

Section titled “Context”

Lyth wants camelCase functions and PascalCase types. Go encodes export in capitalization, and Go APIs use names like URL, ServeHTTP, IPv4.

Decision

Section titled “Decision”
  • Go identifiers are referenced verbatim from Lyth (http.ListenAndServe, r.URL).
  • Lyth declarations use Lyth conventions. Visibility is explicit: top-level items are private unless pub, struct fields are public unless private, interface methods are public. The Go name is the Lyth name with its first letter upper-cased (public) or lower-cased (private), plus _ for private names that hit Go keywords or predeclared identifiers. Collisions are errors.
  • Methods implementing Go interfaces use the Go method name (pub fun T.Error()), so there is one spelling.

Alternatives

Section titled “Alternatives”
  • Lower-case aliases for Go APIs (http.listenAndServe): needs heuristics for initialisms (URL → uRL?), produces collisions (Url vs URL), gives two spellings per entity, and breaks copy-paste from Go docs. Rejected.
  • Go’s capitalization rule as Lyth’s visibility rule: forces PascalCase exported functions in Lyth source, contradicting the naming preference.
  • Initialism-aware Go names (userId → UserID): heuristic. Deferred as an open question.

Consequences

Section titled “Consequences”

Lyth code visibly distinguishes Go calls (PascalCase) from Lyth calls (camelCase). Some find that useful provenance, some find it inconsistent. The mapping is total, deterministic, and documented.