Understanding the ActionScript Language > Using ActionScript syntax > Uppercase and lowercase letters |  |

Uppercase and lowercase letters

Only keywords in ActionScript are case sensitive; with the rest of ActionScript, you can use uppercase and lowercase letters interchangeably. For example, the following statements are equivalent:

    cat.hilite = true;
    CAT.hilite = true;

However, it's good practice to follow consistent capitalization conventions, such as those used in this manual, to make it is easier to identify names of functions and variables when reading ActionScript code.

Because ActionScript is not case sensitive, you must not use variable names that match built-in ActionScript objects. For example, the following is not allowed:

    date = new Date();

Instead, use the variable names `myDate`, `theDate`, and so on.

If you don't use correct capitalization with keywords, your script will have errors. When Colored Syntax is turned on in the Actions panel, keywords written with correct capitalization are blue by default. For more information, see Keywords and About syntax highlighting.