29

What is the best practice, most commonly accepted naming conventions for private variables in C#?

  1. private int myInteger;
  2. private int MyInteger;
  3. private int mMyInteger;
  4. private int _myInteger;
  5. private int _MyInteger;
  6. Mysterious other option

Which do you use and why? (My company is fairly new to C# and I would like to pick the most "industry accepted" method to try and get into our coding standard.)

13

17 Answers 17

45

The MSDN class design guidlines http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ta31s3bc.aspx recommends option 1 - myInteger.

I have always used this style. I have a personal dislike for the _ character.

12
  • 1
    I have disliked the _ character till resharper added mid string matching to intellisence. Now I can type myInteger and it will match on _myInteger. But I did not know that MSDS says to not use the _
    – Vaccano
    Sep 9, 2010 at 18:49
  • 4
    If you use option 1, how can I tell if myInteger is a variable local to a method, or a private class member?
    – Wizard79
    Oct 19, 2010 at 14:47
  • 4
    @Lorenzo this.myInteger ;) Nov 1, 2010 at 15:43
  • 12
    But but... "this" is 4 characters and "_" is only one! Actually, that guideline makes a lot of sense but at my office everyone loves underscore and hates seeing "this.Foo", for whatever reason. Sometimes the only guidelines that matter are the ones your workplace forces on you. Nov 1, 2010 at 16:15
  • 2
    The argument about the number of characters is debatable. You don't have to type this every time, only in the methods where a local variable with the same name is present. However, you are required to write an extra symbol every time if you use an underscore. With what I agree is that sticking to your local code style agreement is always important.
    – Malcolm
    Feb 1, 2012 at 23:30
28

I use option #4 above:

private int _myInteger;

I like to have some indication of scope in my variable names, and the underscore is sufficient for that purpose. It's also quite easy to read.

1
  • 5
    I am not agree that it is easy to read, especially if you have to operate with several variables.
    – Restuta
    Sep 29, 2010 at 16:55
20

I use the following naming scheme:

  • 1st (myInteger) for local scoped variables
  • 2nd (MyInteger) for public properties
  • 4th (_myInteger) for private variables
15

I think the option 4 is really the most readable option. It helps you from having to do this:

public Person(string name, int age) 
{
    this.name = name;
    this.age = age;
}

It also makes all private members more noticeable. In the following example, where the heck is age coming from? Without the this qualifier it is harder to tell.

private void Method()
{
    var x = 2;
    var y = age + x;
}

This is way easier to understand:

private void Method()
{
    var x = 2;
    var y = _age + x;
}
3
  • 2
    I used to swear by your first example, but after trying option #4 for a while I much prefer using underscores as a prefix for private fields. Sep 9, 2010 at 17:47
  • 2
    I say, use 1 for private variables, use 4 for private variables used in properties. Sep 12, 2010 at 1:22
  • 2
    I have to disagree with ChaosPandoin. To me, both implementations of Method() are easy to read. As soon as I see the age variable (or _age) and notice that it's not declared in the method, I realize it must be declared elsewhere in the class. The this qualifier is awful but at least it's confined to the constructor method. Dec 18, 2012 at 0:33
11

First off, PascalCasing is commonly reserved for public properties, consts, methods, etc of the class. So I would skip 2 and 5.

Second, hungarian notation is discouraged in the .NET world, so (uh, I think) 3 is right out. Assuming that's what is going on with 3.

That leaves with camelCasing and _camelCasing. I typically use _camelCasing for class variables, and plain old camelCasing for variables scoped to a method or narrower. Camel casing is the accepted standard used for method arguments, protected/private variable names and variables within a method or narrower scope.

I also like to prepend with the underscore so that my private variables are grouped in my intellisense. However, I only do this for variables scoped to a type. Variables declared within a method or narrower scope I leave the underscore off. Makes it easy to keep them separate and keep less used variables together.

6
  • 2
    I don't understand why you would use _camelCasing for class variables, since its usually obvious that they are class variables. Sep 9, 2010 at 20:11
  • 1
    @math no, its not obvious in the intellisense. Remember, fields (class-scoped variables) have (almost) the same icon as method scoped variables, so they look exactly the same if you don't look closely. The underscore helps differentiate them visually and keeps them grouped together, which helps if you aren't using them often (which you shouldn't be as state is the enemy of bug free programming).
    – Ripped Off
    Sep 9, 2010 at 20:24
  • I never said anything about the Intellisense. I'm talking about the difference between Color.ClassMethod() and myColor.InstanceMethod(), namely that it should be obvious that since Color is a class, ClassMethod() is a class method. Sep 9, 2010 at 22:25
  • @math you before: I don't understand why you would use _camelCasing for class variables you after: I'm talking about the difference between Color.ClassMethod() and myColor.InstanceMethod() Excuse me while I'm confused. Listen, I use class variables rarely, so its nice to be reminded of their names by hitting _ and having them all pop up in the intellisense nice and grouped.
    – Ripped Off
    Sep 13, 2010 at 11:46
  • 2
    @mathepic: When Will says "class variables" he means (private) instance fields. You seem to have interpreted what he said to mean static members; but that's not what he said.
    – Dan Tao
    Sep 20, 2010 at 15:14
4

private int integer

If you get confused between member and local variables in a method scope then you probably need to refactor.

1
  • +1: that's what I believe is the point. BTW: I see its source, but the name integer could be better reworded, maybe value ?
    – Wolf
    Nov 18, 2014 at 14:27
2

I do option #4 because that's what the SSCLI looks like, but honestly I don't care that much on naming of private variable. Public is a different story.

BTW you forgot m_MyInteger

2

I wouldn't call it "my" anything!

But I'd say

class C
{
     int VariableName { get; set; }
}

quite often this is nicer than having explicit variables. If I had an explicit private variable i'd call it int _variableName;

1

In C++ I tend to use _ as I switch editors a lot which doesn't allow me to see if it's private.

For C# I tend to to leave the _ away as Visual Studio allows me to see if it's private.

I tend to use the Camel Case way to do this.

1

I use 4 (private int _myInteger;) because:

private int myInteger;

This is how I name my local variables.

private int MyInteger;

This is how I name constants.

private int mMyInteger;

This is not C# style.

private int _MyInteger;

This looks strange.

1

I believe the best way to do it (in C#/.net anyway) is a combination of 2 and 6:

private int MyInteger { get; set; }

There's theoretically no variable at all here, but it looks and acts like a private instance variable. If we need to add some business logic to that value (it's a completely internal value, so we can do anything we want to it after all) then it's already 'propertyized' for us. A hot steaming cup of win!

1

with the underscore.

Bill Wagner explains why in Effective C#. But I would never name an integer myInteger, better something like _age or _length. Including the TypeName in the instance name is a horrible practice. Names should be self explanatory and since C# is Type-Safe types can be found out att all times.

1
  • 1
    Yeah, it was an example though.
    – Vaccano
    Sep 10, 2010 at 0:32
1

You need to give a more specific example, but:

private int count, private int badFileCount, private static readonly int ReconnectAttemptsLimit

By the way, you get all this FREE when you install and start using the latest and greatest MSFT Stylecop.

0

I go by option 5: private int _MyFoo

I don't see any real competitive advantage over _myFoo though.

0

Use camelCasing for private variables like myInteger

Consider a preceding _ if the variable is a backup for a property to reduce confusions-
Variable _myProperty for property MyProperty

0

I have ReSharper name my variables, not only mine but everyone else does this as well. There is a great amount of consistency trough the project.

0

Juval Lowy's IDesign C# Coding Standard is quite popular. This standard recommends prefixing private member variables with "m_" (Option 6). That's what we do in our team.

private int m_myInteger;

Option 4 (_myInteger) is an acceptable variation of this standard.

I didn't like the MSDN recommendation (myInteger), because it makes it difficult to tell a private member from a local variable. Their recommendation, of course, solves this problem by qualifying private members with this, which seems redundant to me.

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