Ada '83 Language Reference Manual

Copyright 1980, 1982, 1983 owned by the United States Government. Direct reproduction and usage requests to the Ada Information Clearinghouse.

2.3. Identifiers

Identifiers are used as names and also as reserved words.

    identifier ::=
       letter {[underline] letter_or_digit} 

    letter_or_digit ::= letter | digit 

    letter ::= upper_case_letter | lower_case_letter 

All characters of an identifier are significant, including any underline character inserted between a letter or digit and an adjacent letter or digit. Identifiers differing only in the use of corresponding upper and lower case letters are considered as the same.

Examples:

    COUNT      X    get_symbol   Ethelyn   Marion 

    SNOBOL_4   X1   PageCount    STORE_NEXT_ITEM

Note:

No space is allowed within an identifier since a space is a separator.

References: digit, lower case letter, name, reserved word, separator, space character, upper case letter.

Rationale references: 2.1 Lexical Structure

Style Guide references: 3.1.1 Use of Underscores, 3.1.3 Capitalization, 3.1.4 Abbreviations, 3.2 Naming Conventions, 5.2.1 Formal Parameters, 5.5.4 Positive Forms of Logic, 8.1.1 Application-Independent Naming, 8.1.2 Abbreviations

Address any questions or comments to adainfo@sw-eng.falls-church.va.us.