Because the computing and internet landscape evolves quickly and is very variable, style guides and manuals dealing with computing terms vary significantly. The overall trend is the same as for other words – terms often begin as 2 or more words, perhaps capitalised, and merge, and lose capitals. You may see:
Wi-Fi or wi-fi or wifi or WiFi [use wi-fi]
Internet or internet [use internet]
World Wide Web or world wide web [use world wide web]
Within a document, always strive for consistency.
Did you know? The internet and the web (world wide web) are not the same thing. The internet is the physical network of computers and other devices. The web is just one way of distributing information over the internet. The web is based on hypertext markup language (HTML) and a protocol for sending that language back and forth, the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).
Other ways of transferring data around the internet include the file transfer protocol (FTP), the network news transfer protocol (NNTP), the network time protocol (NTP) and email (which can use several protocols).
Note the style and usage for these common computing terms:
- dialog not dialogue – use dialogue except when referring to dialog boxes and similar
Enter your email address in the first dialog box.
- disc versus disk
- disc – compact disc, digital versatile disc
- disk – hard disk drive, floppy disk
- DVD – digital versatile disc (not video disc)
- ‘e-words’
- the most common e-words are generally set solid – check your chosen dictionary
email ebook ecommerce ezine
- less common terms tend to retain the hyphen
e-learning e-journal e-publish
- hard disk drive – no hyphens (but solid-state drive)
- internet – lower case
- login, logon, logoff, logout – do not use login to mean username or password
First, log in to the system. Have you logged in? Are you logging in? [verb + preposition]
What is your login [adjective] information?
not
What is your login?
- markup – as an adjective in a computing context, the word is set solid
Use a simple markup language to format your manuscript.
- online, offline – in a computing context, the words are set solid
Use the online catalogue. [adjective]
The catalogue was published online. [adverb]
We put the catalogue online. [preposition]
- program – always use program when discussing computer programs, even when the style otherwise mandates programme
- solid-state drive – hyphen (but hard disk drive)
- webpage, website – set solid
- world wide web – lower case, no hyphens.
