+++ title = "hyphens" +++ Use hyphens in compound modifier phrases when they help clarify which words go together. Specifically, hyphenate compound modifiers that come before the noun they modify, except when they consist of an adverb ending in -ly. Do not hyphenate compound modifiers that come after the noun they modify unless you have a really good reason to.
For example, you need a hyphen in language-based security, off-chip DRAM, and real-time deadline but not in this accelerator is fixed function. On the other hand, fully connected layer does not need a hyphen, even though the modified noun layer comes last, because the -ly suffix in fully makes it easy to see how to parse the phrase.
Some phrases can act either as modifiers that need hyphens or as nouns that do not. The phrase state of the art is a common bugaboo. A reference to something in the state of the art does not need hyphens, but a state-of-the-art accelerator does.