5 ms·

Lowercase is simply easier to read because of more diverse letter and word shapes. https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/72622/how-easy-to-read-are-small-caps

Lowercase is simply easier to read because of more diverse letter and word shapes. https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/72622/how-easy-to-read-are-small-caps-vs-lower-case https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/72622/how-easy-to-rea...

C1sc0cat 6y ago
I can recall when using Mixed case in your Hollerith Constants was considered a bit flash :-) Hollerith constants where the way you did text to terminal IO in Early Fortran's. For example "Press 1 to exit, 2 to edit settings, 3 to start run?" instead of just "?"
nomel 6y ago
I would also say it's easier to read since, for the average 20 word 4.7 char sentence, about 99% of the characters that our eyes see, and we read, are all lowercase. edit: as in, perceiving that 1% case will require more effort.
csnover 6y ago
This is not correct. The “word shape model” itself is actually probably wrong[0]. > The weakest evidence in support of word shape is that lowercase text is read faster than uppercase text. This is entirely a practice effect. Most readers spend the bulk of their time reading lowercase text and are therefore more proficient at it. When readers are forced to read large quantities of uppercase text, their reading speed will eventually increase to the rate of lowercase text. Even text oriented as if you were seeing it in a mirror will quickly increase in reading speed with practice (Kolers & Perkins, 1975). [0] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/develop/word-recognition https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/develop/word-rec...
- wongarsu 6y ago
  Even if this is true and it's just practice, any new programmer still comes with years of practice in reading mostly lowercased text and very little experience reading all-uppercase text. In a field where everything gets reinvented all the time this should have a big impact.
- yesenadam 6y ago
  Jazz pianist here. I had a weekly gig for a couple of years where the singer would choose songs and put the chord chart – | Eb C-7 | F-7 Bb7 | etc. – on the grand piano so the bass player could read it, and it was upside down for me. After a while, it almost seemed easier for me to read chord charts upside down!
simias 6y ago
It might be true to some extent but I don't think it's a complete deal breaker either. Look at Cyrillic print fonts for instance, the lowercase is effectively what we would call smallcaps in the latin alphabet: здравствуйте ЗДРАВСТВУЙТЕ. The р and у do deep lower in lowercase, but that's about it. I really think it's a matter of habit and tradition more than anything else.

C1sc0cat 6y ago

I can recall when using Mixed case in your Hollerith Constants was considered a bit flash :-) Hollerith constants where the way you did text to terminal IO in Early Fortran's. For example "Press 1 to exit, 2 to edit settings, 3 to start run?" instead of just "?"

nomel 6y ago

I would also say it's easier to read since, for the average 20 word 4.7 char sentence, about 99% of the characters that our eyes see, and we read, are all lowercase. edit: as in, perceiving that 1% case will require more effort.

csnover 6y ago

This is not correct. The “word shape model” itself is actually probably wrong[0]. > The weakest evidence in support of word shape is that lowercase text is read faster than uppercase text. This is entirely a practice effect. Most readers spend the bulk of their time reading lowercase text and are therefore more proficient at it. When readers are forced to read large quantities of uppercase text, their reading speed will eventually increase to the rate of lowercase text. Even text oriented as if you were seeing it in a mirror will quickly increase in reading speed with practice (Kolers & Perkins, 1975). [0] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/develop/word-recognition https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/develop/word-rec...

wongarsu 6y ago
Even if this is true and it's just practice, any new programmer still comes with years of practice in reading mostly lowercased text and very little experience reading all-uppercase text. In a field where everything gets reinvented all the time this should have a big impact.
yesenadam 6y ago
Jazz pianist here. I had a weekly gig for a couple of years where the singer would choose songs and put the chord chart – | Eb C-7 | F-7 Bb7 | etc. – on the grand piano so the bass player could read it, and it was upside down for me. After a while, it almost seemed easier for me to read chord charts upside down!

simias 6y ago

It might be true to some extent but I don't think it's a complete deal breaker either. Look at Cyrillic print fonts for instance, the lowercase is effectively what we would call smallcaps in the latin alphabet: здравствуйте ЗДРАВСТВУЙТЕ. The р and у do deep lower in lowercase, but that's about it. I really think it's a matter of habit and tradition more than anything else.