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When to use a hyphen in writing a compound word

Which is correct?

  1. front-end engineering
  2. frontend engineering
  3. front end engineering


Rule 1 under Hyphens Between Words says:



Rule 1 under Hyphens With Prefixes says:




What's considered the final say here?

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If your concern is with job titles, it's interesting to look at the LinkedIn job title autocomplete suggestions. If you type "Frontend", it suggests "Frontend Developer" or "Frontend Engineer", but it doesn't give anything for "Front-end", and if you try "Front End" it only suggests "Front End Supervisor". I'm guessing this is powered by the most common entries, which suggests that in the tech industry "Frontend" is most commonly used. – jackocnr Jan 9 '14 at 3:12
@KitZ.Fox While I understand your argument for closing the question, the term(s) in question are so frequently used that consideration beyond applying the hyphenating vs non-hyphenating grammar rules discussed in the question this question supposedly duplicates seem pertinent. – kontur Jul 23 at 14:39

4 Answers 4

up vote 26 down vote accepted

For the compound noun front + end it is front end:


front end (plural front ends)


frontend and front-end are alternative forms.


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I like the spelling convention set in GCC Coding Convention:

  • "front end" (noun)
  • "front-end" (adjective)
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I had a technical writing professor explain it's often just a matter of time before the hyphen disappears. The hyphen indicates the pairing is fairly common but still relatively new. By the time front-end becomes "frontend" there's already a consensus the new word stands on its own. – PJ Brunet May 8 '14 at 21:55
@PJBrunet But it is still H-bomb, X-ray, T-bone. – Frederik Krautwald Mar 25 at 6:58



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