Coding C# in Style

I admit it; I’ve got problems. I get itchy when my code isn’t arranged in the right order, I get the shakes when I open a file and see code sprawling all over the place, I get nervous when my fields aren’t prefixed with an underscore. So I work to my own personal style, strictly adhering to some key guidelines.

Private Fields Are Underscored

This helps me tell at a glance whether the variable I’m assigning to is class-level or method level. It provides a little bit of context and a reminder of where a variable belongs in a class – is a throwaway variable or could other methods be working with it?

Tabs, Not Spaces

This is probably the subject of a thousand flame-wars on forums and mailing lists across the internet, but I opt for tabs. I also work with Visual Studio’s “View White Space” option switched on so I can check for excess tabs and line breaks more easily. I told you I had a problem.

Regions Are Your Friend

When I open a class file, I’ve usually got a purpose in mind, and seeing reams of code is a surefire way to make me dismay. On the other hand, opening a file which is organised using regions means I can quickly focus on the area I want to act upon. It also allows me to collapse the code I’ve been investigating back to an “overview” state using Visual Studio’s CTRL+M, CTRL+O shortcut.

Save Me, Resharper

As with most Visual Studio operations, Resharper is there to help. In this case, JetBrains provided a great new feature for R#3 – the Type Members Layout options. By supplying an XML layout, you can tell R# to reorganise your code into a specific order within specific regions. I’ve uploaded my current Layout XML{.}, which will reorganise your code in my style – fields, properties, constructors then methods – all within their own region. If only JetBrains could come up with something to enforce naming conventions and other coding styles!

Conclusion

I’ve heard people a number of times that it’s better to enforce any coding style, even if your team doesn’t agree with some aspects, than to not enforce anything at all. I totally agree with this statement – from C# to Javascript to CSS and SQL, if you make sure your developers work to a single standard you can be sure they can jump into a file and not be terrified. Ok, not be really terrified anyway. Let me know about the guidelines your company enforces and which tools, if any, you use to do so!