Alain.Cochard@unistra.fr writes: > > I looked further, and the situation is not as simple. > > https://grammarhow.com/backend-back-end-or-back-end/, for example, > > claims that only "back-end" is grammatically correct. > > > > I am now thinking to do the following: > > 1. Use "backend" in the code symbols > > 2. Use "back-end" in docstrings and the manual. > > > > Would it make sense? > > > It is not clear to me why it would be a problem to use 'backend' in > code symbols as well, but the only important thing for me as a user is > that the terminology be consistent throughout the documentation. So > yes, it makes sense. > > The link you provide is very convincing. Will it still hold in 5 or > 10 year from now? (see end of > https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.html) Well. This is a tricky subject. 5-10 years from now the grammar itself may change. At the end, even Oxford Dictionary my link is referring to, when defending that "backend" without hyphen is wrong, is not setting standards, but just reflecting the existing ones. If we look into https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/117383/what-is-the-correct-term-back-end-back-end-or-backend and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontend_and_backend, "backend" is also used. I am attaching Google trends stats for search term usage of "backend", "back-end", and "back end". It looks like "backend" is more popular at the end. I will go for it everywhere unless there are objections. P.S. It really feels a bit silly trying to weigh on this subject.