Question

I was wondering if anyone knew why some programming languages that I see most frequently spelled in all caps (like an acronym), are also commonly written in lower case. FORTRAN, LISP, and COBOL come to mind but I’m sure there are many more.

Perhaps there isn’t any reason for this, but I’m curious to know if any of these changes are due to standards or decisions by their respective communities. Or are people just getting too lazy to hit the caps lock key? (I know I am)

Answer 1

Some of it has to do with the version of the language (i.e. FORTRAN 77 vs. Fortran 90). From the Fortran Wikipedia entry (emphasis mine):

The names of earlier versions of the language through FORTRAN 77 were conventionally spelled in all-caps (FORTRAN 77 was the version in which the use of lowercase letters in keywords was strictly nonstandard). The capitalization has been dropped in referring to newer versions beginning with Fortran 90. The official language standards now refer to the language as "Fortran." Because the capitalisation (or lack thereof) of the word FORTRAN was never 100% consistent in actual usage, and because many hold impassioned beliefs on the issue, this article, rather than attempt to be normative, adopts the convention of using the all-caps FORTRAN in referring to versions of FORTRAN through FORTRAN 77 and the title-caps Fortran in referring to versions of Fortran from Fortran 90 onward. This convention is reflected in the capitalization of FORTRAN in the ANSI X3.9-1966 (FORTRAN 66) and ANSI X3.9-1978 (FORTRAN 77) standards and the title caps Fortran in the ANSI X3.198-1992 (Fortran 90) standard.

When I see FORTRAN, I think fixed-spacing, punch cards, non-dynamic memory, and a bad taste in my mouth. Fortran means things like user-defined types, modules, array intrinsic functions, and isn’t so bad.