👍🏻10 Best Practices for Naming Tables and Fields in a Database
If every developer and analyst followed these simple rules, reverse engineering would become a hobby, not a laborious job. To make it easier for you and your colleagues to work with the database, try these simple rules:
1. Separate words with underscores if the name attribute or database table consists of 2 or more words. This is a more stylish camelCase case, improved readability and conceptual platform dependency. For example, word_count.
2. Write full and semantically based names for tables and columns without reference to data types. Saving a couple of characters will do nothing but confuse. It is permissible to use benefits only where this is an abbreviated name for everyone.
3. Write the attribute name with a lowercase letter to avoid confusion from upper-case SQL keywords. It will also improve your typing speed.
4. Do not use numbers in the names of tables and columns.
5. Name the tables clearly, but briefly.
6. Name tables and columns in the singular. For example, author instead of authors.
7. Name the linking tables in alphabetical order. For example author_book
8. When an index is set, add its table and column name. For example, CREATE INDEX person_ix_first_name_last_name ON person (first_name, last_name);
9. For Boolean column type add prefix name with is_ or has_ . For example is_admin or has_membership.
10. For columns of Date-Time type, add suffix _at or _time to the name. For example, order_at or order_time.
https://dev.to/mohammadfaisal/how-to-design-a-clean-database-1e83