Editorial: built-in or builtin

[annevk]

We'd like the web platform to align with ECMAScript, but ECMAScript is inconsistent. I have a mild preference for builtin as English tends to drop hyphens over time and it's nice to be future proof.

A decision here tentatively blocks https://github.com/heycam/webidl/pull/870 so it'd be nice if we could reach a somewhat speedy resolution even if it takes a while for ECMAScript itself to change. (I realize this might be tricky though for what is in essence a bikeshed matter.)

cc @domenic

[ljharb]

My intuition matches Domenic's - that built-in is an adjective and builtin is a noun, but I haven't checked the spec to see if that intuition holds.

[claudepache]

but ECMAScript is inconsistent

I see no occurrence of “builtin”, only “built-in”, in ECMA 262 text (where the word is used sometimes as a name (including three “built-ins”), more often as an adjective). The only inconsistency is in variable and operation names such as “CreateBuiltinFunction”, which could be renamed as “CreateBuiltInFunction”.

[rkirsling]

As another data point, I often have to remind myself that test262 has a built-ins directory, since JSC has a builtins directory. 😅

Edit: Looks like V8 also has a builtins directory, while SM has builtin (which for present purposes is the same).

[jmdyck]

The only inconsistency is in variable and operation names such as “CreateBuiltinFunction”

Specifically:

• CreateBuiltinFunction,
• RegExpBuiltinExec, and
• _builtinTag_ in the algorithm for Object.prototype.toString().

That's all.

(I think the spec's been pretty consistent on this since the first edition.)

[bakkot]

My intuition matches Domenic's - that built-in is an adjective and builtin is a noun, but I haven't checked the spec to see if that intuition holds.

The spec uses "built-in" as a noun exactly three times, all in the Introduction, and does not ever use "builtin" either way (with the above-mentioned exceptions). All other uses are as adjectives.

Personally my preference would be to avoid using the noun form entirely, which avoids the issue.

[rkirsling]

Note that even if we change CreateBuiltinFunction and RegExpBuiltinExec, _builtinTag_ is not a "built-in tag" (i.e., a tag that's built in), it's the tag for a builtin.