Naming Conventions and Standards
|
Note :
The terms Pascal Casing and Camel Casing are used
throughout this document.
Pascal Casing
- First character of all words are Upper Case and other characters are
lower case.
Example: BackColor
Camel Casing -
First character of all words, except the first word are Upper
Case and other characters are lower case.
Example: backColor |
1.
Use Pascal casing for Class names
public class HelloWorld
{
...
}
2.
Use Pascal casing for Method names
void SayHello(string name)
{
...
}
3.
Use Camel casing for variables and method parameters
int totalCount = 0;
void SayHello(string name)
{
string fullMessage = "Hello " + name;
...
}
4.
Use the prefix “I” with Camel Casing for interfaces ( Example:
IEntity
)
5.
Do not use Hungarian notation to name variables.
In earlier days most of the programmers liked it - having the data type as a
prefix for the variable name and using m_ as prefix for member variables. Eg:
string m_sName;
int nAge;
However, in .NET coding standards, this is not recommended. Usage of data type
and m_ to represent member variables should not be used. All variables should
use camel casing.
|
Some programmers still prefer to use the prefix m_ to represent
member variables, since there is no other easy way to identify a member
variable. |
6.
Use Meaningful, descriptive words to name variables.
Do not use abbreviations.
Good:
string address
int salary
Not Good:
string nam
string addr
int sal
7.
Do not use single character variable names like
i, n, s
etc. Use names like
index, temp
One exception in this case would be variables used for iterations in loops:
for ( int i = 0; i < count; i++ )
{
...
}
If the variable is used only as a counter for iteration and is not used anywhere
else in the loop, many people still like to use a single char variable (i)
instead of inventing a different suitable name.
8.
Do not use underscores (_) for local variable names.
9.
All member variables must be prefixed with underscore (_) so that they can be
identified from other local variables.
10.
Do not use variable names that resemble keywords.
11.
Prefix boolean
variables, properties and methods with “is”
or similar prefixes.
Ex: private
bool _isFinished
12.
Namespace names should follow the standard pattern
<company name>.<product name>.<top level module>.<bottom
level module>
13.
Use appropriate prefix for the UI elements so that you can identify them from
the rest of the variables.
There are 2 different approaches recommended here.
a.
Use a common prefix ( ui_ ) for all UI elements. This will help you group all of
the UI elements together and easy to access all of them from the intellisense.
b.
Use appropriate prefix for each of the ui element. A brief list is given below.
Since .NET has given several controls, you may have to arrive at a complete list
of standard prefixes for each of the controls (including third party controls)
you are using.
|
Control |
Prefix |
|
Label |
lbl |
|
TextBox |
txt |
|
DataGrid |
dtg |
|
Button |
btn |
|
ImageButton |
imb |
|
Hyperlink |
hlk |
|
DropDownList |
ddl |
|
ListBox |
lst |
|
DataList |
dtl |
|
Repeater |
rep |
|
Checkbox |
chk |
|
CheckBoxList |
cbl |
|
RadioButton |
rdo |
|
RadioButtonList |
rbl |
|
Image |
img |
|
Panel |
pnl |
|
PlaceHolder |
phd |
|
Table |
tbl |
|
Validators |
val |
14.
File name should match with class name.
For example, for the class HelloWorld, the file name should be helloworld.cs
(or, helloworld.vb)
15.
Use Pascal Case for file names.