From 9a6ebd4c6bf4b3e4f9021dd986a3ad79d196f591 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jbranchaud <jbranchaud@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2024 23:19:17 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] Add Table Names Are Treated As Lower-Case By Default as a
 Postgres TIL

---
 README.md                                     |  3 +-
 ...es-are-treated-as-lower-case-by-default.md | 80 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 82 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 postgres/table-names-are-treated-as-lower-case-by-default.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 99ab3c9..c20435e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pairing with smart people at Hashrocket.
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://crafty-builder-6996.ck.page/e169c61186).
 
-_1494 TILs and counting..._
+_1495 TILs and counting..._
 
 ---
 
@@ -839,6 +839,7 @@ _1494 TILs and counting..._
 - [Survey Of User-Defined Ordering Of Records](postgres/survey-of-user-defined-ordering-of-records.md)
 - [Switch Non-Castable Column Type With Using Clause](postgres/switch-non-castable-column-type-with-using-clause.md)
 - [Switch The Running Postgres Server Version](postgres/switch-the-running-postgres-server-version.md)
+- [Table Names Are Treated As Lower-Case By Default](postgres/table-names-are-treated-as-lower-case-by-default.md)
 - [Temporarily Disable Triggers](postgres/temporarily-disable-triggers.md)
 - [Temporary Tables](postgres/temporary-tables.md)
 - [Terminating A Connection](postgres/terminating-a-connection.md)
diff --git a/postgres/table-names-are-treated-as-lower-case-by-default.md b/postgres/table-names-are-treated-as-lower-case-by-default.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bb0447
--- /dev/null
+++ b/postgres/table-names-are-treated-as-lower-case-by-default.md
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+# Table Names Are Treated As Lower-Case By Default
+
+This one is a bit unintuitive and can cause some real confusion -- when you
+create a table in PostgreSQL, any casing is ignored, it is treated as
+lower-case. Let's see it to believe it:
+
+```sql
+> create table BookMarks (
+    id integer generated always as identity primary key,
+    location text not null
+  );
+
+> \d
++--------+--------------------+----------+----------+
+| Schema | Name               | Type     | Owner    |
+|--------+--------------------+----------+----------|
+| public | bookmarks          | table    | postgres |
+| public | bookmarks_id_seq   | sequence | postgres |
++--------+--------------------+----------+----------+
+```
+
+Notice that when we list our tables, the uppercase `M` and `B` are gone. That's
+because Postgres folds away the casing when processing the table name
+identifier.
+
+It doesn't matter how we refer to it for queries:
+
+```sql
+> select * from BookMarks;
++----+----------+
+| id | location |
+|----+----------|
++----+----------+
+
+> select * from bookmarks;
++----+----------+
+| id | location |
+|----+----------|
++----+----------+
+```
+
+You can force Postgres to respect the casing by wrapping the table name in
+quotes.
+
+```sql
+> create table "BookMarks" (
+    id integer generated always as identity primary key,
+    location text not null
+  );
+
+> \d
++--------+--------------------+----------+----------+
+| Schema | Name               | Type     | Owner    |
+|--------+--------------------+----------+----------|
+| public | BookMarks          | table    | postgres |
+| public | BookMarks_id_seq   | sequence | postgres |
++--------+--------------------+----------+----------+
+
+> select * from "BookMarks";
++----+----------+
+| id | location |
+|----+----------|
++----+----------+
+
+> select * from "bookmarks";
+relation "bookmarks" does not exist
+LINE 1: select * from "bookmarks"
+                      ^
+
+> select * from BookMarks;
+relation "bookmarks" does not exist
+LINE 1: select * from BookMarks
+                      ^
+```
+
+That then means you have to quote your table name anytime you want to refer to
+it in a query. It's not worth it. It is better to always keep your table names
+lower-case using snake case.
+
+[source](https://weiyen.net/articles/avoid-capital-letters-in-postgres-names)