ansaurus

Question

Answer 1

+21 A:

According to Merriam-Webster, the abbreviation is "ID". If it were a correct abbreviation, it would have to be "Id." with the period.

lavinio 2009-07-20 01:01:55

This is absolutely the right answer. Even though the D doesn't stand for anything on its own, I think we should all realize by now that the whims of English are not bound by logic or consistency. For better or worse, "ID" is the actual, official, correct term.

John Y 2009-07-20 01:14:34

I didn't even think to check the dictionary. Looks like ID is literally correct given that it's defined in more than one as the abbreviation for Identification. The dictionary editors obviously need to read Microsoft's guidleines re. two and 3 letter abbreviations. In the meantime I'll change my UI from Id to ID and accept defeat, damn QA.

sipwiz 2009-07-20 01:14:53

Maybe, it stands for 'Identification (Digit|Data)'

alex 2009-07-20 01:17:37

You Americans! In real English, contractions don't have full stops. Compare Col. Smith and Sgt Smithers. Or the titles Mr, Mrs, and Ms. Because these are contractions, they don't have full stops, while titles such as Col., or abbreviations such as Mon., Tue., and Wed., do have full stops.

TRiG 2010-01-18 21:25:05

Following: ID is short for Identity (without full stops), just as TV is short for Television (or Transvestite), also without full stops. No full stops, because the letters are not standing for complete words. I'd use ID in text, Id in code.

TRiG 2010-02-12 17:04:59

Answer 2

+10 A:

The 'D' doesn't stand for anything, so I've always considered it an abbreviation, not an acronym - and therefore I too use 'Id', not 'ID'.

I don't know about your qa's reasoning - words can have more than one meaning - this is not unusual in English :)

But it looks like the common usage is actually 'ID' (right or wrong :P), which is probably the format your users would expect.

Blorgbeard 2009-07-20 01:02:19

So obvious.. and yet I've never even though about that before. +1

womp 2009-07-20 01:03:57

Answer 3

+1 A:

as a short version of Identifier, I would use Id. Also ID it's freaky when you have functions like

getUserIDByName()

Multiple capitals in domain terms are quite problematic with CamelCase, as they can produce ambiguities and therefore dishomogeneity in your interfaces and namings

Stefano Borini 2009-07-20 01:14:23

Of course, you could just use "getUserIdByName" in the code and display the UI with "ID", to get the best of both worlds.

Matthew Iselin 2009-07-20 01:46:15

Yes, but that's an ambiguity, although I mean... you can live with it =)

Stefano Borini 2009-07-20 01:49:41

In C#, the convention is to use camelCase/PascalCase with acronyms in your code - eg. the class `SqlConnection`. On your UI, you would still refer to "SQL Server connection details" though.

Blorgbeard 2010-01-18 23:08:49

Answer 4

+2 A:

"ID" you are refering originally comes from the shortened form for "Identity Document". It is only more recently become ID for identity.

ForerMedia 2009-07-20 07:26:11

Answer 5

+2 A:

The QA manager's line of reasoning is silly. Lots of English words have multiple meanings. "Lead", "lead", "lead" (metal, be at the front of, or a connector).

I would just try to be consistent with the capitalization used elsewhere in the app.

D-Coder 2009-07-21 20:49:48

Answer 6

A:

How would you say it if you were reading out loud? I'd pronounce the two letters. ID is correct, analogous with similar abbreviations such as TV. (No dots, please, as the letters don't stand for anything.)

When I'm dealing with abbreviations like this, I like to format them in small block capitals, but that's just a personal taste. Capitals, anyway.

(But I probably would continue to use Id in the code itself.)

TRiG 2010-01-18 21:28:18

ansaurus

tags:

views:

answers:

"ID" or "Id" on User Interface

related questions