What does "k" mean in http?

[FPNL]

I was reading http, and I found there is k words like below...

What does "k" mean?

https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/bfa6e37204f1343c8a340f44c923858833da55b8/lib/_http_incoming.js#L37

const kHeaders = Symbol('kHeaders');
const kHeadersCount = Symbol('kHeadersCount');
const kTrailers = Symbol('kTrailers');
const kTrailersCount = Symbol('kTrailersCount');

[gireeshpunathil]

it is probably inherited from the variable naming convention from v8 source - which uses k prefix for variable names that are constants. For example: https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/bfa6e37204f1343c8a340f44c923858833da55b8/deps/v8/include/v8.h#L433

pls refer to hungarian notation for additional context.

/cc @addaleax to see if there is a better explanation.

[addaleax]

which uses k prefix for variable names that are constants.

Yeah – k for konstant. :)

ls refer to hungarian notation for additional context.

The origins of using k this way might be related to hungarian notation, but to avoid confusion, we’re not using hungarian notation in V8 or Node.js, and the most commonly used variant of the hungarian notation (the one used by the Windows API, afaik) uses c for constants.

[FPNL]

Got it. Thank you

[jhunterkohler]

To add more niche knowledge onto the answer: v8 uses this convention due to the Google C++ Style. See the 'Constant Names section.