code standard

8/13/2019 Code Standard

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C# Coding Standards and Naming Conventions

Below are our C# coding standards, naming conventions, and best practices. Use these in

your own projects and/or adjust these to your own needs.

1. Naming Conventions and Style

douse PascalCasingfor class names and method names.publicclassClientActivity

{

publicvoidClearStatistics()

{

//...

}

publicvoidCalculateStatistics(){

//...

}

}

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and easy to read.douse camelCasingfor method arguments and local variables.publicclassUserLog

{

publicvoidAdd(LogEventlogEvent)

{

intitemCount = logEvent.Items.Count;// ...

}

}

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and easy to read.do notuse Hungariannotation or any other type identification in identifiers// Correct

intcounter;

stringname;

// Avoid

intiCounter;stringstrName;

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and Visual Studio IDE makes determining

types very easy (via tooltips). In general you want to avoid type indicators in any identifier.do notuse Screaming Capsfor constants or readonly variables// Correct

publicstaticconststringShippingType = "DropShip";

// Avoid

publicstaticconststringSHIPPINGTYPE = "DropShip";

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework. Caps grap too much attention.


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avoidusing Abbreviations. Exceptions: abbreviations commonly used as names,such as Id, Xml, Ftp, Uri

// Correct

UserGroupuserGroup;

AssignmentemployeeAssignment;

// Avoid

UserGroupusrGrp;

AssignmentempAssignment;

// Exceptions

CustomerIdcustomerId;

XmlDocumentxmlDocument;

FtpHelperftpHelper;

UriParturiPart;

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and prevents inconsistent abbreviations. douse PascalCasingfor abbreviations 3 characters or more (2 chars are both uppercase) HtmlHelperhtmlHelper;FtpTransferftpTranfer;

UIControluiControl;

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework. Caps would grap visually too much attention.do notuse Underscoresin identifiers. Exception: you can prefix private static variables

with an underscore.// Correct

publicDateTimeclientAppointment;

publicTimeSpantimeLeft;

// AvoidpublicDateTimeclient_Appointment;

publicTimeSpantime_Left;

// Exception

privateDateTime_registrationDate;

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and makes code more natural to read (without'slur'). Also avoids underline stress (inability to see underline).douse predefined type namesinstead of system type names like Int16, Single, UInt64, etc

// Correct

stringfirstName;intlastIndex;

boolisSaved;

// Avoid

StringfirstName;

Int32lastIndex;

BooleanisSaved;

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and makes code more natural to read.

douse implicit type varfor local variable declarations. Exception: primitive types (int, string,double, etc) use predefined names.

varstream = File.Create(path);varcustomers = newDictionary();


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// Exceptions

intindex = 100;

stringtimeSheet;

boolisCompleted;

Why: removes clutter, particularly with complex generic types. Type is easily detected with VisualStudio tooltips.douse noun or noun phrases to name a class.publicclassEmployee

{

}

publicclassBusinessLocation

{

}

publicclassDocumentCollection

{

}

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and easy to remember.doprefix interfaces with the letter I. Interface names are noun (phrases) or adjectives.publicinterfaceIShape

{

}

publicinterfaceIShapeCollection

{

}

publicinterfaceIGroupable

{

}

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework.doname source files according to their main classes. Exception: file names with partial classes

reflect their source or purpose, e.g. designer, generated, etc.// Located in Task.cs

public partialclassTask

{

//...

}

// Located in Task.generated.cs

public partialclassTask

{//...

}

Why: consistent with the Microsoft practices. Files are alphabetically sorted and partial classes

remain adjacent.doorganize namespaces with a clearly defined structure// Examples

namespace Company.Product.Module.SubModule

namespaceProduct.Module.Component

namespaceProduct.Layer.Module.Group

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework. Maintains good organization of your codebase.


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dovertically align curly brackets.// Correct

classProgram

{

staticvoidMain(string[] args)

{}

}

Why: Microsoft has a different standard, but developers have overwhelmingly preferred verticallyaligned brackets.dodeclare all member variables at the top of a class, with static variables at the very top.// Correct

publicclassAccount

{

publicstaticstringBankName;

publicstaticdecimalReserves;

publicstringNumber {get; set;}

publicDateTimeDateOpened {get; set;}

publicDateTimeDateClosed {get; set;}

publicdecimalBalance {get; set;}

// Constructor

publicAccount()

{

// ...

}

}

Why: generally accepted practice that prevents the need to hunt for variable declarations. douse singular names for enums. Exception: bit field enums.// Correct

publicenumColor

{

Red,

Green,

Blue,

Yellow,

Magenta,

Cyan

}

// Exception

[Flags]

publicenumDockings

{

None = 0,

Top = 1,

Right = 2,

Bottom = 4,

Left = 8

}

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and makes the code more natural to read.Plural flags because enum can hold multiple values (using bitwise 'OR').


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do notexplicitly specify a type of an enum or values of enums (except bit fields)// Don't

publicenumDirection: long

{

North = 1,

East = 2,South = 3,

West = 4

}

// Correct

publicenumDirection

{

North,

East,

South,

West

}

Why: can create confusion when relying on actual types and values.do notsuffix enum names with Enum// Don't

publicenumCoinEnum

{

Penny,

Nickel,

Dime,

Quarter,

Dollar

}

// Correct

publicenumCoin

{

Penny,

Nickel,

Dime,

Quarter,

Dollar

}

Why: consistent with the Microsoft's .NET Framework and consistent with prior rule of no type

indicators in identifiers.


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Table of Contents

1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 1

2. Style Guidelines.................................................................................................................................... 2

2.1 Tabs & Indenting................................................................................................................................ 2

2.2 Bracing............................................................................................................................................... 2

2.3 Commenting........................................................................................................................................ 2

2.3.1 Documentation Comments............................................................................................................. 2

2.3.2 Comment Style............................................................................................................................. 3

2.4 Spacing............................................................................................................................................... 3

2.5 Naming............................................................................................................................................... 4

2.6 Naming Conventions............................................................................................................................ 4

2.6.1 Interop Classes............................................................................................................................. 4

2.7 File Organization................................................................................................................................. 5

1. Introduction

First, read the .NET Framework Design Guidelines. Almost all naming conventions, casing rules, etc.,

are spelled out in this document. Unlike the Design Guidelines document, you should treat this

document as a set of suggestedguidelines. These generally do not effect the customer view so they

are not required.

2. Style Guidelines2.1 Tabs & Indenting

Tab characters (\0x09) should not be used in code. All indentation should be done with 4 space

characters.2.2 Bracing

Open braces should always be at the beginning of the line after the statement that begins the block.

Contents of the brace should be indented by 4 spaces. For example:


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if (someExpression)

{

DoSomething();

}

else

{DoSomethingElse();

}

case statements should be indented from the switch statement like this:switch (someExpression)

{

case 0:

DoSomething();

break;

case 1:

DoSomethingElse();

break;

case 2:

{

int n = 1;

DoAnotherThing(n);

}

break;

}

Braces should never be considered optional. Even for single statement blocks, you should always use

braces. This increases code readability and maintainability.for (int i=0; i


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It is suggestedthat all control structures (if, while, for, etc.) use braces, but it is not required.2.4 Commenting

Comments should be used to describe intention, algorithmic overview, and/or logical flow. It would

be ideal, if from reading the comments alone, someone other than the author could understand a

functions intended behavior and general operation. While there are no minimum comment

requirements and certainly some very small routines need no commenting at all, it is hoped that

most routines will have comments reflecting the programmers intent and approach.2.4.1 Copyright notice

Each file should start with a copyright notice. To avoid errors in doc comment builds, you dont want

to use triple-slash doc comments, but using XML makes the comments easy to replace in the future.

Final text will vary by product (you should contact legal for the exact text), but should be similar to: //-----------------------------------------------------------------------

//

// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

//

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------

2.4.2 Documentation Comments

All methods should use XML doc comments. For internal dev comments, the tag should be

used.public class Foo

{

/// Public stuff about the method

/// What a neat parameter!

/// Cool internal stuff!

///

public void MyMethod(int bar) { }

}

However, it is common that you would want to move the XML documentation to an external file

for that, use the tag.public class Foo

{

///

///

public void MyMethod(int bar) { }

}


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UNDONE there is a big doc with all the comment tags we should be using where is that? 2.4.3 Comment Style

The //(two slashes) style of comment tags should be used in most situations. Where ever

possible, place comments above the code instead of beside it. Here are some examples:// This is required for WebClient to work through the proxy

GlobalProxySelection.Select = new WebProxy("http://itgproxy");

// Create object to access Internet resources

//

WebClient myClient = new WebClient();

Comments can be placed at the end of a line when space allows:public class SomethingUseful

{

private int itemHash; // instance member

private static bool hasDoneSomething; // static member

}

2.5 Spacing

Spaces improve readability by decreasing code density. Here are some guidelines for the use ofspace characters within code:

Do use a single space after a comma between function arguments.

Right: Console.In.Read(myChar, 0, 1);

Wrong: Console.In.Read(myChar,0,1);

Do not use a space after the parenthesis and function arguments

Right: CreateFoo(myChar, 0, 1)

Wrong: CreateFoo( myChar, 0, 1 )

Do not use spaces between a function name and parenthesis.

Right: CreateFoo()

Wrong: CreateFoo () Do not use spaces inside brackets.

Right: x = dataArray[index];

Wrong: x = dataArray[ index ];

Do use a single space before flow control statements

Right: while (x == y)

Wrong: while(x==y)

Do use a single space before and after comparison operators

Right: if (x == y)

Wrong: if (x==y)
http://itgproxy/http://itgproxy/http://itgproxy/http://itgproxy/


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2.6 Naming

Follow all .NET Framework Design Guidelines for both internal and external members. Highlights of

these include: Do notuse Hungarian notation

Do notuse a prefix for member variables (_, m_, s_, etc.). If you want to distinguish between local and

member variables you should use this. in C# and Me. in VB.NET.

Douse camelCasing for member variables

Douse camelCasing for parameters

Douse camelCasing for local variables

Do use PascalCasing for function, property, event, and class names

Doprefix interfaces names with I

Do notprefix enums, classes, or delegates with any letter

The reasons to extend the public rules (no Hungarian, no prefix for member variables, etc.) is to

produce a consistent source code appearance. In addition a goal is to have clean readable source.

Code legibility should be a primary goal.2.7 Naming Conventions

2.7.1 Interop Classes

Classes that are there for interop wrappers (DllImport statements) should follow the naming

convention below:

NativeMethodsNo suppress unmanaged code attribute, these are methods that can be usedanywhere because a stack walk will be performed.

UnsafeNativeMethodsHas suppress unmanaged code attribute. These methods are potentially

dangerous and any callerof these methods must do a full security review to ensure that the usage is

safe and protected as no stack walk will be performed.

SafeNativeMethods Has suppress unmanaged code attribute. These methods are safe and can be

used fairly safely and the caller isnt needed to do full security reviews even though no stack walk will be

performed.

class NativeMethods

{

private NativeMethods() {}

[DllImport(user32)]

internal static extern void FormatHardDrive(string driveName);

}

[SuppressUnmanagedCode]

class UnsafeNativeMethods

{

private UnsafeNativeMethods() {}


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[DllImport(user32)]

internal static extern void CreateFile(string fileName);

}

[SuppressUnmanagedCode]

class SafeNativeMethods{

private SafeNativeMethods() {}

[DllImport(user32)]

internal static extern void MessageBox(string text);

}

All interop classes mustbe private, and all methods must be internal. In addition a private

constructor should be provided to prevent instantiation.2.8 File Organization

Source files should contain only one public type, although multiple internal classes are allowed

Source files should be given the name of the public class in the file

Directory names should follow the namespace for the class

For example, I would expect to find the public class System.Windows.Forms.Control in

System\Windows\Forms\Control.cs Classes member should be alphabetized, and grouped into sections (Fields, Constructors, Properties,

Events, Methods, Private interface implementations, Nested types) Using statements should be inside the namespace declaration.

namespace MyNamespace

{

using System;

public class MyClass : IFoo

{

// fieldsint foo;

// constructors

public MyClass() { }

// properties

public int Foo { get { } set { } }

// events

public event EventHandler FooChanged { add { } remove { } }


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// methods

void DoSomething() { }

void FindSomethind() { }

//private interface implementations

void IFoo.DoSomething() { DoSomething(); }

// nested types

class NestedType { }

}

}


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Introduction

Developers always love to fight about coding standards. But it is very vital to follow coding

standards to achieve consistency throughout the project or code. All should be of the same mind

that conventions are very influential. I will show some good practices that I have learned during

my professional years, those are lower level but very important for all levels.

Quick Test

Let us demonstrate a FizzBuzz example. The FizzBuzz test is to write a program that goes through

the numbers 1 to 100. For every multiple of 3, the program should output "Fizz" and for every

multiple of 5 it should output "Buzz". If both above conditions are met it should output

"FizzBuzz". If none of the above conditions are met, it should just output the number.

Example 1:

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publicvoidTest(){

for(inti = 1; i < 101; i++)

{

if(i % 3== 0&& i % 5== 0)

{Console.WriteLine("FizzBuzz");

}

elseif(i % 3== 0)

{

Console.WriteLine("Fizz");

}

elseif(i % 5== 0)

{

Console.WriteLine("Buzz");

}

else{

Console.WriteLine(i);

}}
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}

What do you think? Do we need to make the code better?

Example 2:

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publicvoidCheck()

{

for(inti = 1; i


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What is better Code?

Write code for People First, Computers Second. Readable code doesn't take any longer to write

than confusing code does, at least not in the long run. Its easier to be sure your code works, if

you can easily read what you wrote. That should be a sufficient reason to write readable code.

But code is also read during reviews. Code is read when you or someone else fixes an error. Code

is read when the code is modified. Code is read when someone tries to use part of your code in a

similar project or different project but similar feature or part of a feature.

What if you just writing code for yourself ? Why should you make it readable ?

Ok, the major reason behind writing readable is , a week or two from now youre going to be

working on another project. What will happen when any other HUMAN needs to fix an error on

that project? I can guarantee you that you will also lost within your own horror code.

From my point of view a better should carried out the following characteristics:

Code that is easy to write , modify and extend

Code that is clean and talks/convey meaning

Code that has values and cares about quality

So, write with the human reader in mind while satisfying the needs of the machine to the degree

necessary.


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How can you improve the Readability?

First you have to read other peoples code and figure out what is good and what is bad within

that code. What makes you easy to understand and what makes you feel more complicated. Then

apply those things to your own code. Finally you need sometime, some experience and you need

some practice to improve the readability of your code. It is very hard but obvious to implement

standards in any software company, through methods like Trainings, Peer Code Reviews,

Introducing automated code review tools, etc. The most popular tools are as follows:

FxCop is a tool that performs static code analysis of .NET code. It provides hundreds of rules that

perform various types of analysis.

StyleCop is an open source project that analyzes C# source code to enforce a set of style and

consistency rules. It can be run from inside of Visual Studio or integrated into an MSBuild project.

StyleCop has also been integrated into many third-party development tools.

JetBrains ReSharperis a renowned productivity tool that makes Microsoft Visual Studio a much

better IDE. Thousands of .NET developers worldwide wonder how theyve ever lived without

ReSharpers code inspections, automated code refactoring, blazing fast navigation, and coding

assistance.


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What are Conventions?

According toWikipedia "Coding conventions are a set of guidelines for a specific programminglanguage that recommend programming style, practices and methods for each aspect of a piece

program written in this language. These conventions usually cover file organization, indentation,

comments, declarations, statements, white space, naming conventions, programming practices,

programming principles, programming rules of thumb, architectural best practices, etc. These are

guidelines for software structural quality. Software programmers are highly recommended to follow

these guidelines to help improve the readability of their source code and make software

maintenance easier. Coding conventions are only applicable to the human maintainers and peer

reviewers of a software project. Conventions may be formalized in a documented set of rules that

an entire team or company follows, or may be as informal as the habitual coding practices of an

individual. Coding conventions are not enforced by compilers. As a result, not following some or all

of the rules has no impact on the executable programs created from the source code."

You should be able to tell the difference between a property, local variable, method name, class

name etc. because they use different capitalization conventions. These type of conventions has

values. You will be able to get lots of guidelines and conventions over internet. So find a

convention or build your own and stick with it.

The source of the following (Design Guidelines for Developing Class Libraries)was developed by

the Microsoft special interest group. I just made some addons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_conventionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_conventionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_conventionshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229042.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229042.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229042.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229042.aspxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_conventions


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Capitalization Conventions

Below are some examples of our C# coding standards, naming conventions, and best practices.

Use these according to your own needs.

Pascal Casing

The first letter in the identifier and the first letter of each subsequent concatenated word are

capitalized. You can use Pascal case for identifiers of three or more characters.

Camel Casing

The first letter of an identifier is lowercase and the first letter of each subsequent concatenated

word is capitalized.

Ref.Capitalization Rules for Identifiers

Examples of Some Naming Conventions Guidelines

You will find enough resources over internet. I am just highlighting some of my favorites among

them

C# Coding Conventions

C# Coding Guidelines

C# Coding Standards and Best Programming Practices

C# Coding Standards and Naming Conventions

I am providing some basic level examples below but as I already mentioned, find a good

convention that fits for you and stick with it.

Douse PascalCasing for class names and method names.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229043.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229043.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229043.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ff926074.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ff926074.aspxhttp://csharpguidelines.codeplex.com/http://csharpguidelines.codeplex.com/http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspxhttp://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspxhttp://www.dofactory.com/reference/csharp-coding-standards.aspxhttp://www.dofactory.com/reference/csharp-coding-standards.aspxhttp://www.dofactory.com/reference/csharp-coding-standards.aspxhttp://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspxhttp://csharpguidelines.codeplex.com/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ff926074.aspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229043.aspx


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publicclassProduct{

publicvoidGetActiveProducts()

{

//...}publicvoidCalculateProductAdditinalCost()

{

//...

}

}

Douse camelCasing for method arguments and local variables.

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publicclassProductCategory{publicvoidSave(ProductCategory productCategory)

{

// ...

}

}

Do notuse Abbreviations.

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// CorrectProductCategory productCategory;

// Avoid

ProductCategory prodCat;

Do notuse Underscores in identifiers.

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// Correct

ProductCategoryproductCategory;

// Avoid

ProductCategoryproduct_Category;

Doprefix interfaces with the letter I.

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publicinterfaceIAddress{

}
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Dodeclare all member variables at the top of a class, with static variables at the very top.

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publicclass Product

{ publicstatic string BrandName;

publicstring Name{get; set;}

publicDateTimeDateAvailable {get; set;}

publicProduct()

{

// ...

}

}

Douse singular names for enums. Exception: bit field enums.

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publicenumDirection{

North,

East,

South,

West

}

Do notsuffix enum names with Enum.

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//Avoid

publicenumDirectionEnum

{

North,

East,

South,

West

}

Why We Need Conventions?

Programmers on large projects sometimes go overboard with conventions. They establish so

many standards and guidelines that remembering them becomes a full-time job. The computer

doesnt care whether your code is readable. Its better at reading binary machine instructions

than it is at reading high-level-language statements.

Conventions offer several specific benefits. They let you take more for granted. By making one

global decision rather than many local ones, you can concentrate on the more important

characteristics of the code.
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They help you transfer knowledge across projects

They help you learn code more quickly on a new project.

They emphasize relationships among related items.

You should write readable code because it helps other people to read your code. Naming thing is

one of the hardest job we have as a software developer. Because we spend a lot of time namingthings, there are so many things to name properties, methods, classes, files, projects etc. We

should spend some energies for naming things because names can be meanings. Adding

meaning to code is readability all about.

So it will help you better sleep at night.

Top Rules Developers Should Follow

Keep Class Size Small

I have seen and written some gigantic classes. But unfortunately those were never turns out well.

Later I found the reason that is, those large classes try to do too many things. That violates the

Single Responsibility Principle. SinSOLID (Object Oriented Design).

Thesingle responsibility principle states that every object should have a single responsibility, and

that responsibility should be entirely encapsulated by the class. All its services should be narrowly

aligned with that responsibility.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOLID_%28object-oriented_design%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOLID_%28object-oriented_design%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOLID_%28object-oriented_design%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOLID_%28object-oriented_design%29


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Or

According toMartinsdefinition:"THERE SHOULD NEVER BE MORE THAN ONE REASON FOR A

CLASS TO CHANGE."

Why was it important to separate these two responsibilities into separate classes? Because eachresponsibility is an axis of change. When the requirements change, that change will be manifest

through a change in responsibility amongst the classes. If a class assumes more than one

responsibility, then there will be more than one reason for it to change. If a class has more then

one responsibility, then the responsibilities become coupled. Changes to one responsibility may

impair or inhibit the class ability to meet the others. This kind of coupling leads to fragile designs

that break in unexpected ways when changed.

Avoid Obsolete Comments

Let us start with Obsolete Comments. According toRobert C. Martin:

"A comment that has gotten old, irrelevant, and incorrect is obsolete. Comments get old quickly. It

is best not to write a comment that will become obsolete. If you find an obsolete comment, it is

best to update it or get rid of it as quickly as possible. Obsolete comments tend to migrate away

from the code they once described. They become floating islands of irrelevance and misdirection in

the code."

This is topic create some interesting conversations among all level of developers. Try to avoid

comments on individual method or short class. Because most comments i have ever seen is trying

to describe the purpose/intentions. Some cases comments are meaningless. Developers writes

comments to increase the readability & maintainability . Make sure your comments are notmaking any noise. It will be great if you could name a method more meaningful instead of
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comments. I am suggesting because method names are more affective than comments. Most of

the comments are meaningless noise. Let us check comments below:

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//ensure that we are not exporting//deleted products

if(product.IsDeleted && !product.IsExported ){

ExportProducts = false;

}

// This is a for loop that prints the 1 million times

for(inti = 0; i < 1000000; i++){

Console.WriteLine(i);

}

If we name the method like CancelExportForDeletedProducts()instead of comments whatwill happen? So, method names are more affective than comments. Methods execute and they

are real. But comment is good for some cases like, when visual studio will take comments for

creating an API documentation and those comments are different, you can use "///" for those

comments so that other developers can get intelligence of API or Library.

I am nottelling you that avoid comment is a must for all the times. According to Kent's oral

tradition point goes more to large-scale comments about how the whole thing works, not to

individual method comments. If comment is trying to describe the purpose/intentions then it is

wrong. If you look at thickly commented code, you will notice that most of those comments are

there because the code is bad. Please read the following books for further detail:

Professional Refactoring in C# and ASP.NETby Danijel Arsenovski

"Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code" byMartin Fowler, Kent Beck,John

Brant, William Opdyke, don Roberts

Avoid Unnecessary Regions in Class

Regions are a feature of VS that allow you to surround blocks of code. It could be a single or

multiple methods. The region exists because it is easier to navigate around the large file. The

regions are used to hide ugly code or class that have exploded in size . If a class does too many

things it also violates the Single Responsibility Principle. So next time whenever you will think foradding a new region to your file take step back and ask that is it possible to separate your region

into a separate class.

Keep Method Short

The more lines of code in a method the harder it is to understand. Everyone recommends 20-25

lines of code is ok. But some geeks prefer 1-10 lines for safety, this their personal preference.

There is no hard and fast rule. Extract Method is one of the most common refactoring. If you

consider a method that is too long or needs a comment to understand its purpose. You can

apply Extract Method there with little effort. People always keep asking on the length for a

method. But length is not the issue. When you are dealing with complex methods, keeping trackof all local variables can be complicated and time-consuming. Where extracting a method can be


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a real time-saver. You can use the Visual Studio extract method which will track which variables

are passed to a new method, which are returned by the methods return value as output

parameters.

Using ReSharper

Using Microsoft Visual Studio

For more detail on each step, please navigate theMSDN link.

According to Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler, Kent

Beck (Contributor), John Brant (Contributor), William Opdyke, don Roberts
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"Extract Method is one of the most common refactoring I do. I look at a method that is too long or

look at code that needs a comment to understand its purpose. I then turn that fragment of code

into its own method. I prefer short, well-named methods for several reasons. First, it increases the

chances that other methods can use a method when the method is finely grained. Second, it allows

the higher-level methods to read more like a series of comments. Overriding also is easier when the

methods are finely grained. It does take a little getting used to if you are used to seeing largermethods. And small methods

really work only when you have good names, so you need to pay attention to naming. People

sometimes ask me what length I look for in a method. To me length is not the issue. The key is the

semantic distance between the method name and the method body. If extracting improves clarity,

do it, even if the name is longer than the code you have extracted."

Avoid Too Many Parameters

Declare a class instead of too many parameters. Creating a class that puts all these parameters

together. This is generally a better design and valuable abstraction.

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//avoid

publicvoidCheckout(stringshippingName, stringshippingCity,stringshippingSate, stringshippingZip, stringbillingName,

stringbillingCity, stringbillingSate, stringbillingZip)

{

}

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//DO

publicvoidCheckout(ShippingAddress shippingAddress,BillingAddress billingAddress)

{

}

We should introduce class instead of all parameters.

Avoid Complex ExpressionsCollapse |Copy Code

if(product.Price>500&& !product.IsDeleted &&!product.IsFeatured && product.IsExported){

// do something

}

Complex expression have some meaning behind them it is just hidden by those multiple

expressions. We can encapsulate the complex expression into that object by using a property.

That code will be easier to read.
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Consider Warnings as Errors

If you notice the code you will find a variable that was declared but never used. Normally if we

build the project we will get a warning and we can run our project without any error. But we

should remove warning as much as possible. So setup your build to treat warning as Errors like

the following steps:


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Minimize the Number of Returns

Minimize the number of returns in each routine. It's harder to understand a routine if, reading it

at the bottom, you're unaware of the possibility that it returned somewhere above.

Use a return when it enhances readability. In certain routines, once you know the answer, you

want to return it to the calling routine immediately. If the routine is defined in such a way that it

doesn't require any cleanup, not returning immediately means that you have to write more code.

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//avoid

if(product.Price>15)

{returnfalse;

}

elseif(product.IsDeleted)

{returnfalse;

}

elseif(!product.IsFeatured)

{

returnfalse;

}

elseif(){

//.....

}

returntrue;

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//DO

varisValid = true;

if(product.Price>15)

{isValid= false;

}

elseif(product.IsDeleted)

{

isValid= false;

}

elseif(!product.IsFeatured)

{

isValid= false;

}returnisValid;

You can imagine 4 exit points scattered around 20- 30 lines of code. That makes you more harder

to understand and see what is happening inside the method and what will execute and when will

execute.

I got too many responses, some agreeing but mostly disagreeing that it was a good "standard"

to enforce. To find out the potentiality I did some unit testing and found that for complex

method that have multiple exit points usually have a set of tests for each of those paths.

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if( BADFunction() == true)

{

// expression

if( anotherFunction() == true){

// expression

returntrue;

}

else

{//error

}}

else
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{

//error

}

returnfalse;

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if( !GoodFunction())

{// error.

returnfalse

}

// expression

if( !GoodFunction2()){

//error.

returnfalse;

}

// more expression

returntrue;

Ref. "Code Complete" by Steve McConnellfor further detail clarification.

Move Declaration Near Reference

Some programmers are used to placing temporary variable declarations at the top of the

method.But by placing the variable declaration far away from the line where it is first referenced,

you are making code more difficult to read, because it is not immediately clear how the variable

was initialized. In addition, declaring variables well ahead of time makes the method more

difficult to refactor. If you try to extract a part of the method in which the variable was

referenced, you have to pass the variable as a parameter to a newly extracted method, eventhough the declaration could possibly have been placed inside the extracted block.

Assertion

An assertion is code thats used during developmentusually a routine or macrothat allows to

check itself as it runs. True means everything is operating as expected. False means it has

detected an unexpected error in the code. An assertion usually takes two arguments: a Boolean

expression that describes the assumption thats supposed to be true and a message to display if

it isnt.

Assertions are especially useful in large, complicated and in high reliability system.

Example: If a system assumes that there will be maximum 100,000 user records, the system might

contain an assertion that the number of records is less than or equal to 100,000. So assertion will

be silent within that range. If it encounters more than that records, it will loudly assert that

there is an error in the program.

Checking Loop Endpoints

A single loop usually has three cases of interest: the first case, an arbitrarily selected middle case,

and the last case. If you have any special cases that are different from the first or last case, check


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those too. If the loop contains complex computations, get out your calculator and manually

check the calculations.

Conclusion

It is obvious to implement standards in any software company according to organizational

behavior, project nature, and domain. So I would like to repeat "Find a convention and stick with

it".

If you think I missed any prominent guideline, please leave that in the comments section. Ill try

to include that in the main post. Coding For Fun.

code standard

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