17 Mar 2010

Login/Log In, Logout/Log Out

One thing I’ve noticed web developers getting confused about is whether to use “login” or “log in” in various contexts. It might seem like an insignificant detail, but that confusion sometimes works its way into code and results in bugs or inconsistent naming conventions.

As explained in Wikipedia, here’s the clear distinction to make:

• The single words “login” and “logout” are nouns, so you might have a “login page”, and generally use them to refer to the system.
• The terms “log in” and “log out” (or “log off”) are verbs, so you use them for actions, e.g. “If you’re not Robert Roberts, log in here”, or “log out” as a prompt.

So now there’s no excuse for getting it mixed up.