Java Glossary : case sensitive

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case sensitive: If you compare two strings in a case sensitive way, e.g. with String.compareTo, they are considered different if they differ only in capitalisation. If you compare two Strings in a case insensitive way, e.g. with String.compareToIgnoreCase, then they are considered equal if they differ only in capitalisation.
Java the language is case sensitive. Capitalisation must be precise in class, method and variable names. avar is not the same variable as aVar. However, the underlying operating system may be case insensitive, e.g. Windows and NT. To Java, MyApp.class and Myapp.class are totally different files, but to Windows they are the same. To avoid problems, never name two different classes (or any other entities for that matter) with names differing only in capitalisation. The one possible exception is to name a local variable the same as its class, with the leading cap change to lower case, e.g. MyApplet myApplet = new MyApplet(); The OS never sees these local variable names.
How to Write Unmaintainable Code (naming) ¤ String comparison gotchas

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