disclaimer: English is not my mother tone. But I've thought about this problem for a long time, esp when using node (camelcase style) to handle database since the name of table fields should be snakeized, this is my thought:
There are 2 kinds of 'acronyms' for a programmer:
- in natural language, UNESCO
- in computer programming language, for example,
tmc and textMessageContainer, which usually appears as a local variable.
In programming world, all acronyms in natural language should be treated as word, the reasons are:
when we programming, we should name a variable either in acronym style or non-acronym-style. So, if we name a function getUNESCOProperties, it means UNESCO is an acronym ( otherwise it shouldn't be all uppercase letters ), but evidently, get and properties are not acronyms. so, we should name this function
either gunescop or getUnitedNationsEducationalScientificAndCulturalOrganizationProperties, both are unacceptable.
natural language is evolving continuously, and
today's acronyms will become words tommorow, but programs should be independent of this trend and stand forever.
by the way, in the most-voted answer, IO is the acronym in computer language meaning (stands for InputOutput), but I don't like the name, since I think the acronym (in computer language) should only be used to name a local variable but a top-level class/function, so InputOutput should be used instead of IO
