Why shouldn't I prefix my fields? [closed]

Answer 1

There is one important difference between C++ and C#: Tool support. When you follow the established guidelines (or common variations), you will get a deep level of tool support that C++ never had. Following the standards allows tools to do deeper refactoring/rename operations than you'd otherwise be capable of. Resharper does this. So stick with one of the established standards.

Answer 2

I never do this and the reason why is that I [try to] keep my methods short. If I can see the whole method on the screen, I can see the params, I can see the locals and so I can tell what is owned by the class and what is a param or a local.

I do typically name my params and locals using a particular notation, but not always. I'm nothing if not inconsistent. I rely on the fact that my methods are short and try to keep them from doing X, Y and Z when they should be only doing X.

Anyhow, that's my two cents.

Answer 3

I don't use that style any longer. It was developed to help you see quickly how variables were being used. The newer dev environments let you see that information by hovering your mouse over the variable. The need for it has gone away if you use those newer tools.

Answer 4

If you are not coding under a particular guideline, you should keep using your actual m_ notation and change it if the project coding guidelines says so.

Answer 5

The auto-implemented property feature in C# 3.0 creates less of a need for this convention one way or the other. Instead of writing

string m_name;
public string Name { get { return m_name; } }

or

string _Name;
public string Name { get { return _Name; } }

(or any other convention), you can now write

public string Name { get; private set; }

Since you no longer need the explicit backing store variable, you no longer have to come up with a name for it; thus avoiding this entire discussion.

Obviously, this argument doesn't apply when you really need explicit backing store such as to perform validation.

Answer 6

I have experimented with m_, s_, just _, and no prefix at all. I have settled on using just _ for all static and instance variables. I don't find it important to distinguish static variables from instance variables. In theory it sounds good, in practice it doesn't create a problem.

A coworker once made a convincing argument to eliminate all prefixes, we tried it on one project and it worked better then I expected. I carried it forward to my next project and became annoyed that it "interferes" with Intellisense. When you have the following situation

int foo;
public int Foo
{
  get { return foo; }
}

Starting to type foo will suggest both the instance variable and the property. Prefixing the variable with an underscore eliminates the annoying double suggestion, so I switched back to using just _.