URLs: Dash vs. Underscore [closed]

Question

Should it be /about_us or /about-us?

From usability point of view, I personally think /about-us is much better for end-user yet Google and most other websites (and javascript frameworks) use underscore naming pattern. Is it just matter of style? Are there any compatibility issues with dashes?

Answer 1

Jeff has some thoughts on this: https://blog.codinghorror.com/of-spaces-underscores-and-dashes/

There are drawbacks to both. I would suggest that you pick one and be consistent.

Answer 2

Personally, I'd avoid using about-us or about_us, and just use about.

Answer 3

Some older web hosting and DNS servers actually have problems parsing underscores for URLs, so that may play a part in conventions like these.

Answer 4

I prefer dashes on the basis that an underscore might be obscured to an extent by a link underline. Textual URLs are primarily for being recognised at a glance rather than being grammatically correct so the argument for preserving dashes for use in hyphenated words is limited.

Where the accuracy of a textual URL is important is when reading it out to someone, in which case you don't want to confuse an underscore for a space (or vice-versa).

A also find dashes more aesthetically pleasing, if that counts for anything.

Answer 5

I personally would avoid all dashes and underscores and opt for camelCase or PascalCase if its in code.

The Wikipedia article on camelCase explains a bit of the reasoning behind it's origins. They amount to

1. Lazy programmers who didn't like reaching for the _ key
2. Potential confusion about readability
3. The "Alto" keyboard at xerox PARC that had no underscore key.

If the user is to see the string then I'd do none of the above and use "About us." or "AboutUs" if I had to as camelCase has spread to common usage in some areas such as product names. i.e ThinkPad, TiVo

Answer 6

Better use . - / as separators, because _ seems not to be a separator.

http://www.sistrix.com/blog/832-how-long-may-a-linktext-be.html