10 GitHub Repository Naming Best Practices
When creating a GitHub repository, there are a few best practices to follow in order to make it easier for others to find and use.
GitHub is a powerful platform for developers with over 100 million repositories. But with so many repositories, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd.
One way to make your repository more discoverable is to choose a descriptive and keyword-rich name. In this article, we’ll share 10 GitHub repository naming best practices to help you get started.
1. Use dashes to separate words
When people see a repository name with multiple words concatenated together, they might not know how to pronounce it or what the project is about just by looking at the name. Dashes help to make the name more readable and easier to understand.
Additionally, when people are searching for repositories on GitHub, they might use dashes as delimiters in their search queries. For example, if someone is looking for a CSS library, they might search for “css-library” instead of “csslibrary”. If your repository’s name doesn’t use dashes, it might be harder for people to find it.
2. Keep it short and simple
When someone is looking at the list of repositories on GitHub, they’re not going to want to scroll through a long list of names to find the one they’re looking for. A shorter name is much easier to scan and will help you stand out from the crowd.
Additionally, a simple name is less likely to be confused with another repository. If your repository has a similar name to another, it’s possible that people will get confused and end up in the wrong place.
Finally, a shorter name is just easier to type. When someone wants to clone your repository or add it as a remote, they’re going to appreciate not having to type out a long, complicated name.
3. Be consistent with your naming conventions
If you have multiple repositories, it can be difficult to keep track of them all if they have different naming conventions. For example, let’s say you have two repositories named “my-repo” and “MyRepo”. These two repositories might contain completely different codebases, or they might be identical. It can be hard to tell at a glance.
However, if you name your repositories using the same convention, it’s much easier to keep track of them. For example, you could name your repositories using the format “owner-name/repository-name”, such as “johndoe/my-repo” and “johndoe/my-other-repo”. This makes it clear at a glance which repositories belong to which owner, and it also makes it easy to find a specific repository if you know the owner’s name and the repository’s name.
So, when naming your GitHub repositories, be sure to use a consistent naming convention that will make it easy for you and others to keep track of your repositories.
4. Avoid using special characters or numbers
When you use special characters or numbers in your repository name, it can be difficult for people to find or search for your repository. Additionally, when people are trying to clone or fork your repository, they may run into errors if the special characters are not properly escaped.
For these reasons, it’s best to stick to using letters and dashes (-) in your GitHub repository names.
5. Make the name descriptive
When someone is browsing through GitHub repositories, they’re likely looking for something specific. If your repository name is descriptive, it will be much easier for them to find what they’re looking for. For example, if you have a repository for a project called “My Awesome Project”, it would be much easier to find than if it were simply called “Awesome”.
Additionally, a descriptive repository name can help you when you’re trying to find your own repositories later on. If you have a lot of repositories, it can be difficult to remember which one is which. However, if they all have descriptive names, it will be much easier to find the one you’re looking for.
Finally, a descriptive repository name can help other people understand what your repository is about without even looking at it. This is especially useful if you plan on sharing your repositories with others or if you want to make them public.
6. Don’t use personal pronouns
When you use personal pronouns like “I,” “me,” or “my” in a repository name, it can make it harder for other people to contribute. That’s because they might feel like the repository doesn’t belong to the community, but rather just to you.
It’s also important to avoid using possessive pronouns like “mine” or “yours.” These can also make it seem like the repository is owned by just one person.
Instead, try to use neutral language that includes the project name and/or what the repository is for. For example, “Awesome-Project” or “Super-Tool.”
7. Don’t use abbreviations
When you use abbreviations, it’s harder for people to understand what your repository is about at a glance. This is because they have to mentally translate the abbreviation into something that makes sense to them.
It’s much easier for someone to understand a repository called “awesome-project” than one called “ap.” The former tells them immediately that it’s a project and that it’s probably pretty awesome. The latter could be anything from “accounts payable” to “audio processing.”
So, when you’re naming your GitHub repositories, make sure to spell things out so that people can understand what they’re looking at right away.
8. Don’t include version numbers in repository names
When you include a version number in your repository name, it’s effectively saying that the code in that repository will never change. By not including a version number, you’re indicating that the code in the repository is always changing and evolving.
This may seem like a small distinction, but it’s an important one. Version numbers are for releases, and releases are snapshots in time. A GitHub repository, on the other hand, is constantly changing.
The bottom line is that version numbers don’t belong in GitHub repository names.
9. Don’t use hyphens in repository names
When cloning a repository using the git clone command, the name of the folder that is created is based on the repository name. So, if you have a repository named “my-repo”, the folder that is created when you clone it will be named “my-repo” as well.
However, if you use hyphens in your repository name, such as “my-repo”, the folder that is created when you clone it will be named “my_repo”. This can cause problems because, depending on your operating system, files and folders with hyphens in their names may not be able to be accessed.
Therefore, to avoid potential problems, it’s best to avoid using hyphens in GitHub repository names.
10. Don’t use underscores in repository names
When you use underscores in repository names, GitHub will automatically convert them to dashes. So, for example, if you name your repository “my_repo”, it will be displayed as “my-repo” on GitHub.
This can cause confusion for users, who might not realize that the two names are actually the same repository. It also means that if you ever need to refer to your repository by its full name (including the underscores), you’ll have to remember to use the dash version instead.
So, to avoid any potential confusion or problems, it’s best to just stick with dashes in your repository names.