Hyphenation – ‘Object-Oriented’ vs ‘Object Oriented’

hyphenationopen-vs-closed-vs-hyphenated

When should we use "object-oriented" and when "object oriented" when talking about programming?

An example:

Why should I start writing object oriented code?

I personally think that there should be a hyphen, because "oriented" connects to the word "object", but I am not sure.

Best Answer

The Chicago Manual of Style notes:

With the exception of proper nouns (such as United States) and compounds formed by an adverb ending in ly plus an adjective, it is never incorrect to hyphenate adjectival compounds [of which object-oriented is one] before a noun. When such compounds follow the noun they modify, hyphenation is usually unnecessary, even for adjectival compounds that are hyphenated in Webster’s (such as well-read or ill-humored).

So:

Smalltalk is said to be a pure object-oriented language.

But:

These characteristics make a programming language object oriented.

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