What are the C# "formatting" standards?

Question

In C#(.NET), what are the regular "formatting" standards?

For instance, for parameter names, so far I noticed camelCase with no prefix, is that right? For object names, camelCase and no prefix either, right?

For namespaces, classes, functions and properties, first letter of the word is capitalized and there is no prefix, is this right (again)?

How are "temporary" objects formatted?

Example:

namespace TestNamespace
{
    class MyOwnCoolClass
    {
        MyOwnCoolClass(int length, BinaryWriter writer)
        {
            BinaryWriter tempbw = new BinaryWriter(length);
            return tempbw;
        }
    }
}

(Note: This code is not valid, I know, it's just to demonstrate formatting). Thanks!

Answer 1

Full guidelines from Microsoft can be found in the Class Design Guidelines. It's old, but I haven't yet found anything updated on MSDN, and I believe it is still the standard set reccomendations

Answer 2

If you use StyleCop, you'll get good consistency with the Microsoft .NET Design Guidelines for Developing Class Libraries. StyleCop also enforces several additional things like spacing, ordering of items in a file, and naming of non-public code elements.

Answer 3

I would take a look at the following Coding Practices.

It covers virtually everything that I see in most C# code that I read...including prefixing UI elements. I personally don't follow it to the letter but it gives you a good idea of the general standard and what is good/bad practice.

Answer 4

There are references to Microsoft coding standards. Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 have a Code Analysis engine built in that will guide you through these coding standards and also point you towards some best practices too. Right click on your project and click "Run Code Analysis on project".

Whenever an invalid or less preferred code portion is spotted, it will not only warn you, but point you to a Help Resource on the FxCop site.

Answer 5

MSDN: Naming Guidelines

I tend to follow how the .NET framework is coded so my code is consistent with .NET Framework.

My only personal preference is the naming of class variables which I use the prefix "m_" before each variable like private int m_count.

Answer 6

First, I would say there aren’t any regular formatting standards but Microsoft provide one:

• Design Guidelines for Class Library Developers.

Most people/projects use standards that are close to Microsoft's guidelines but vary depending on the team members personal preferences. Most of the variation is with private/protected members and not public ones.

Here is another commonly used coding standards document:

• http://www.tiobe.com/standards/gemrcsharpcs.pdf

Answer 7

You can use the combination of StyleCop and FxCop (or the built-in Code Analysis for VS2008 Pro) for tools and the Framework Design Guidelines.