C#CodingStandardsandBestProgrammingPractices

By

http://www.dotnetspider.com

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Author
License,CopyrightsandDisclaimer
RevisionHistory

Introduction
Purposeofcodingstandardsandbestpractices
Howtofollowthestandardsacrosstheteam
NamingConventionsandStandards
IndentationandSpacing

GoodProgrammingpractices
Architecture
ASP.NET

Comments

ExceptionHandling

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

1.

Author

Thisdocumentispreparedbythe
dotnetspider
team.Latestversionofthisdocumentcanbe
downloadedfrom
http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx
.Pleasepostyour
commentsandfeedbackaboutthisdocumentintheaboveurl.

Mostoftheinformationinthisdocumentiscompiledfromthecodingstandardsandbestpractices
publishedinvariousarticlesindotnetspider.com.Also,wereferredtothe
guidelinespublishedby
Microsoft
andvariousothersources.

2.

License,CopyrightsandDisclaimer

Youarepermittedtouseanddistributethisdocumentforanynoncommercialpurposeaslongas
youretainthislicense&copyrightsinformation.

ThisdocumentisprovidedonAsIsbasis.Theauthorofthisdocumentwillnotberesponsiblefor
anykindoflossforyouduetoanyinaccurateinformationprovidedinthisdocument.

3.

RevisionHistory

Ifyouareeditingthisdocument,youarerequiredtofilltherevisionhistorywithyournameandtime
stampsothatanybodycaneasilydistinguishyourupdatesfromtheoriginalauthor.

Sl#
Date
ChangedBy
Description
1

4. Introduction

Anybodycanwritecode.Withafewmonthsofprogrammingexperience,youcanwrite'working
applications'.Makingitworkiseasy,butdoingittherightwayrequiresmorework,thanjustmaking
itwork.

Believeit,majorityoftheprogrammerswrite'workingcode',butnotgoodcode'.Writing'goodcode'
isanartandyoumustlearnandpracticeit.

Everyonemayhavedifferentdefinitionsforthetermgoodcode.Inmydefinition,thefollowingare
thecharacteristicsofgoodcode.

Reliable
Maintainable
Efficient

Mostofthedevelopersareinclinedtowardswritingcodeforhigherperformance,compromising
reliabilityandmaintainability.ButconsideringthelongtermROI(ReturnOnInvestment),efficiency
andperformancecomesbelowreliabilityandmaintainability.Ifyourcodeisnotreliableand
maintainable,you(andyourcompany)willbespendinglotoftimetoidentifyissues,tryingto
understandcodeetcthroughoutthelifeofyourapplication.

5.

Purposeofcodingstandardsandbestpractices

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx


Todevelopreliableandmaintainableapplications,youmustfollowcodingstandardsandbestpractices.

Thenamingconventions,codingstandardsandbestpracticesdescribedinthisdocumentarecompiledfrom
ourownexperienceandbyreferringtovariousMicrosoftandnonMicrosoftguidelines.

Thereareseveralstandardsexistsintheprogrammingindustry.Noneofthemarewrongorbadandyou
mayfollowanyofthem.Whatismoreimportantis,selectingonestandardapproachandensuringthat
everyoneisfollowingit.

6.

Howtofollowthestandardsacrosstheteam

Ifyouhaveateamofdifferentskillsandtastes,youaregoingtohaveatoughtimeconvincing
everyonetofollowthesamestandards.Thebestapproachistohaveateammeetingand
developingyourownstandardsdocument.Youmayusethisdocumentasatemplatetoprepare
yourowndocument.

Distributeacopyofthisdocument(oryourowncodingstandarddocument)wellaheadofthe
codingstandardsmeeting.Allmembersshouldcometothemeetingpreparedtodiscussprosand
consofthevariouspointsinthedocument.Makesureyouhaveamanagerpresentinthemeeting
toresolveconflicts.

Discussallpointsinthedocument.Everyonemayhaveadifferentopinionabouteachpoint,butat
theendofthediscussion,allmembersmustagreeuponthestandardyouaregoingtofollow.
Prepareanewstandardsdocumentwithappropriatechangesbasedonthesuggestionsfromallof
theteammembers.Printcopiesofitandpostitinallworkstations.

Afteryoustartthedevelopment,youmustschedulecodereviewmeetingstoensurethateveryone
isfollowingtherules.3typesofcodereviewsarerecommended:

1. Peerreviewanotherteammemberreviewthecodetoensurethatthecodefollowsthe
codingstandardsandmeetsrequirements.Thislevelofreviewcanincludesomeunit
testingalso.Everyfileintheprojectmustgothroughthisprocess.
2. Architectreviewthearchitectoftheteammustreviewthecoremodulesoftheprojectto
ensurethattheyadheretothedesignandthereisnobigmistakesthatcanaffectthe
projectinthelongrun.
3. Groupreviewrandomlyselectoneormorefilesandconductagroupreviewonceina
week.Distributeaprintedcopyofthefilestoallteammembers30minutesbeforethe
meeting.Letthemreadandcomeupwithpointsfordiscussion.Inthegroupreview
meeting,useaprojectortodisplaythefilecontentinthescreen.Gothrougheverysections
ofthecodeandleteverymembergivetheirsuggestionsonhowcouldthatpieceofcode
canbewritteninabetterway.(Dontforgettoappreciatethedeveloperforthegoodwork
andalsomakesurehedoesnotgetoffendedbythegroupattack!)

7.

NamingConventionsandStandards

Note:
Theterms
PascalCasing
and
CamelCasing
areusedthroughoutthisdocument.
PascalCasing
FirstcharacterofallwordsareUpperCaseandothercharactersarelowercase.

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

Example:
B
ack
C
olor
CamelCasing
Firstcharacterofallwords,
exceptthefirstword
areUpperCaseandothercharactersare
lowercase.
Example:
b
ack
C
olor

1.

UsePascalcasingforClassnames
publicclass
HelloWorld
{
...
}

2.

UsePascalcasingforMethodnames
void
SayHello
(stringname)
{
...
}

3.

UseCamelcasingforvariablesandmethodparameters
int
totalCount
=0
voidSayHello(stringname)
{
string
fullMessage
="Hello"+name
...
}

4.

5.

UsetheprefixIwithCamelCasingforinterfaces(Example:
IEntity
)
DonotuseHungariannotationtonamevariables
.

Inearlierdaysmostoftheprogrammerslikedithavingthedatatypeasaprefixforthevariable
nameandusingm_asprefixformembervariables.Eg:

stringm_sName
intnAge

However,in.NETcodingstandards,thisisnotrecommended.Usageofdatatypeandm_torepresent
membervariablesshouldnotbeused.Allvariablesshouldusecamelcasing.

Someprogrammersstillprefertousetheprefix
m_
torepresentmembervariables,sincethereisnoother
easywaytoidentifyamembervariable.

6.

UseMeaningful,descriptivewordstonamevariables.
Donotuseabbreviations.
Good:

stringaddress
intsalary

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx


NotGood:

stringnam
stringaddr
intsal

7.

Donotusesinglecharactervariablenameslike
i,n,s
etc.Usenameslike
index,temp

Oneexceptioninthiscasewouldbevariablesusedforiterationsinloops:

for(inti=0i<counti++)
{
...
}

Ifthevariableisusedonlyasacounterforiterationandisnotusedanywhereelseintheloop,manypeople
stillliketouseasinglecharvariable(i)insteadofinventingadifferentsuitablename.

8.

9.

Donotuseunderscores(_)forlocalvariablenames.
Allmembervariablesmustbeprefixedwithunderscore(_)sothattheycanbeidentifiedfrom
otherlocalvariables.

10. Donotusevariablenamesthatresemblekeywords.

11. Prefix
boolean
variables,propertiesandmethodswith
is
orsimilarprefixes.

Ex:p
rivatebool_isFinished

12. Namespacenamesshouldfollowthestandardpattern

<companyname>.<productname>.<toplevelmodule>.<bottomlevelmodule>

13. UseappropriateprefixfortheUIelementssothatyoucanidentifythemfromtherestofthevariables.

Thereare2differentapproachesrecommendedhere.

a. Useacommonprefix(ui_)forallUIelements.ThiswillhelpyougroupalloftheUIelements
togetherandeasytoaccessallofthemfromtheintellisense.

b. Useappropriateprefixforeachoftheuielement.Abrieflistisgivenbelow.Since.NEThas
givenseveralcontrols,youmayhavetoarriveatacompletelistofstandardprefixesforeach
ofthecontrols(includingthirdpartycontrols)youareusing.

Control

Prefix

Label

lbl

TextBox

txt

DataGrid

dtg

Button

btn

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

ImageButton

imb

Hyperlink

hlk

DropDownList

ddl

ListBox

lst

DataList

dtl

Repeater

rep

Checkbox

chk

CheckBoxList

cbl

RadioButton

rdo

RadioButtonList

rbl

Image

img

Panel

pnl

PlaceHolder

phd

Table

tbl

Validators

val

14. Filenameshouldmatchwithclassname.

Forexample,fortheclassHelloWorld,thefilenameshouldbehelloworld.cs(or,helloworld.vb)

15. UsePascalCaseforfilenames.

8.

IndentationandSpacing

1. UseTABforindentation.DonotuseSPACES.DefinetheTabsizeas4.

2. Commentsshouldbeinthesamelevelasthecode(usethesamelevelofindentation).

Good:

//Formatamessageanddisplay

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

stringfullMessage="Hello"+name
DateTimecurrentTime=DateTime.Now
stringmessage=fullMessage+",thetimeis:"+
currentTime.ToShortTimeString()
MessageBox.Show(message)

NotGood:

//Formatamessageanddisplay
stringfullMessage="Hello"+name
DateTimecurrentTime=DateTime.Now
stringmessage=fullMessage+",thetimeis:"+
currentTime.ToShortTimeString()
MessageBox.Show(message)

3.

4.

Curlybraces(
{}
)shouldbeinthesamelevelasthecodeoutsidethebraces.

Useoneblanklinetoseparatelogicalgroupsofcode.

Good:
boolSayHello(stringname)
{
stringfullMessage="Hello"+name
DateTimecurrentTime=DateTime.Now

stringmessage=fullMessage+",thetimeis:"+
currentTime.ToShortTimeString()

MessageBox.Show(message)

if(...)
{
//Dosomething
//...

returnfalse
}

returntrue
}

NotGood:

boolSayHello(stringname)
{
stringfullMessage="Hello"+name
DateTimecurrentTime=DateTime.Now
stringmessage=fullMessage+",thetimeis:"+
currentTime.ToShortTimeString()
MessageBox.Show(message)
if(...)
{

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

//Dosomething
//...
returnfalse
}
returntrue
}

5.

6.

Thereshouldbeoneandonlyonesingleblanklinebetweeneachmethodinsidetheclass.
Thecurlybracesshouldbeonaseparatelineandnotinthesamelineas
if,for
etc.

Good:

if(...)

{
//Dosomething
}

NotGood:

if(...)
{
//Dosomething
}

7.

Useasinglespacebeforeandaftereachoperatorandbrackets.

Good:
if(showResult==true)
{
for(inti=0i<10i++)
{
//
}
}

NotGood:

if(showResult==true)
{
for(int
i=0i<10i++)
{
//
}
}

8.

Use
#region
togrouprelatedpiecesofcodetogether.Ifyouusepropergroupingusing
#region
,thepageshouldlikethiswhenalldefinitionsarecollapsed.

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

9.

Keepprivatemembervariables,propertiesandmethodsinthetopofthefileandpublic
membersinthebottom.

9.

GoodProgrammingpractices

1.

2.

Avoidwritingverylongmethods.Amethodshouldtypicallyhave1~25linesofcode.Ifamethod
hasmorethan25linesofcode,youmustconsiderrefactoringintoseparatemethods.
Methodnameshouldtellwhatitdoes.Donotusemisleadingnames.Ifthemethodnameis
obvious,thereisnoneedofdocumentationexplainingwhatthemethoddoes.

Good:
voidSavePhoneNumber(stringphoneNumber)
{
//Savethephonenumber.
}

NotGood:

//Thismethodwillsavethephonenumber.
voidSaveDetails(stringphoneNumber)
{
//Savethephonenumber.
}

3.

Amethodshoulddoonly'onejob'.Donotcombinemorethanonejobinasinglemethod,even
ifthosejobsareverysmall.

Good:
//Savetheaddress.
SaveAddress(address)

//Sendanemailtothesupervisortoinformthattheaddressisupdated.

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

SendEmail(address,email)

voidSaveAddress(stringaddress)
{
//Savetheaddress.
//...
}

voidSendEmail(stringaddress,stringemail)
{
//Sendanemailtoinformthesupervisorthattheaddressis
changed.
//...
}

NotGood:

//Saveaddressandsendanemailtothesupervisortoinformthat
//theaddressisupdated.
SaveAddress(address,email)

voidSaveAddress(stringaddress,stringemail)
{
//Job1.
//Savetheaddress.
//...

//Job2.
//Sendanemailtoinformthesupervisorthattheaddressischanged.
//...
}

4.

Usethec#orVB.NETspecifictypes(aliases),ratherthanthetypesdefinedinSystem
namespace.

intage(not
I
nt
16
)
stringname(not
S
tring)
objectcontactInfo(not
O
bject)

SomedevelopersprefertousetypesinCommonTypeSystemthanlanguagespecificaliases.

5.

Alwayswatchforunexpectedvalues.Forexample,ifyouareusingaparameterwith2possiblevalues,
neverassumethatifoneisnotmatchingthentheonlypossibilityistheothervalue.

Good:

If(memberType==eMemberTypes.Registered)
{
//Registereduserdosomething
}
elseif(memberType==eMemberTypes.Guest)
{
//Guestuser...dosomething
}
else
{
//Unexpectedusertype.Throwanexception

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

thrownewException(Unexpectedvalue+memberType.ToString()
+.)

//Ifweintroduceanewusertypeinfuture,wecaneasilyfind
//theproblemhere.
}

NotGood:

If(memberType==eMemberTypes.Registered)
{
//Registereduserdosomething
}
else
{
//Guestuser...dosomething

//Ifweintroduceanotherusertypeinfuture,thiscodewill
//failandwillnotbenoticed.
}

6. Donothardcodenumbers.Useconstantsinstead.
Declareconstantinthetopofthefileanduseit
inyourcode.

However,usingconstantsarealsonotrecommended.Youshouldusetheconstantsintheconfigfileor
databasesothatyoucanchangeitlater.Declarethemasconstantsonlyifyouaresurethisvaluewill
neverneedtobechanged.

7.

8.

Donothardcodestrings.Useresourcefiles.
Convertstringstolowercaseoruppercasebeforecomparing.Thiswillensurethestringwill
matchevenifthestringbeingcomparedhasadifferentcase.

if(name.ToLower()==john)
{
//
}

9. UseString.Emptyinsteadof

Good:

If(name==String.Empty)
{
//dosomething
}

NotGood:

If(name==)
{
//dosomething
}

10. Avoidusingmembervariables.Declarelocalvariableswherevernecessaryandpassittoother
methodsinsteadofsharingamembervariablebetweenmethods.Ifyoushareamember
variablebetweenmethods,itwillbedifficulttotrackwhichmethodchangedthevalueandwhen.

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

11. Use
enum
whereverrequired.Donotusenumbersorstringstoindicatediscretevalues.

Good:
enumMailType
{
Html,
PlainText,
Attachment
}

voidSendMail(stringmessage,MailTypemailType)
{
switch(mailType)
{
caseMailType.Html:
//Dosomething
break
caseMailType.PlainText:
//Dosomething
break
caseMailType.Attachment:
//Dosomething
break
default:
//Dosomething
break
}
}

NotGood:

voidSendMail(stringmessage,stringmailType)
{
switch(mailType)
{
case"Html":
//Dosomething
break
case"PlainText":
//Dosomething
break
case"Attachment":
//Dosomething
break
default:
//Dosomething
break
}
}

12. Donotmakethemembervariablespublicorprotected.Keepthemprivateandexpose
public/protectedProperties.

13. Theeventhandlershouldnotcontainthecodetoperformtherequiredaction.Rathercall
anothermethodfromtheeventhandler.

14. Donotprogrammaticallyclickabuttontoexecutethesameactionyouhavewritteninthebutton
clickevent.Rather,callthesamemethodwhichiscalledbythebuttonclickeventhandler.

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

15. Neverhardcodeapathordrivenameincode.Gettheapplicationpathprogrammaticallyand
userelativepath.

16. Neverassumethatyourcodewillrunfromdrive"C:".Youmayneverknow,someusersmay
runitfromnetworkorfroma"Z:".

17. Intheapplicationstartup,dosomekindof"selfcheck"andensureallrequiredfilesand
dependanciesareavailableintheexpectedlocations.Checkfordatabaseconnectioninstart
up,ifrequired.Giveafriendlymessagetotheuserincaseofanyproblems.

18. Iftherequiredconfigurationfileisnotfound,applicationshouldbeabletocreateonewith
defaultvalues.

19. Ifawrongvaluefoundintheconfigurationfile,applicationshouldthrowanerrororgivea
messageandalsoshouldtelltheuserwhatarethecorrectvalues.

20. Errormessagesshouldhelptheusertosolvetheproblem.Nevergiveerrormessageslike
"ErrorinApplication","Thereisanerror"etc.Insteadgivespecificmessageslike"Failedto
updatedatabase.Pleasemakesuretheloginidandpasswordarecorrect."

21. Whendisplayingerrormessages,inadditiontotellingwhatiswrong,themessageshouldalso
tellwhatshouldtheuserdotosolvetheproblem.Insteadofmessagelike"Failedtoupdate
database.",suggestwhatshouldtheuserdo:"Failedtoupdatedatabase.Pleasemakesurethe
loginidandpasswordarecorrect."

22. Showshortandfriendlymessagetotheuser.Butlogtheactualerrorwithallpossible
information.Thiswillhelpalotindiagnosingproblems.

23. Donothavemorethanoneclassinasinglefile.

24. HaveyourowntemplatesforeachofthefiletypesinVisualStudio.Youcanincludeyour
companyname,copyrightinformationetcinthetemplate.YoucanvieworedittheVisual
Studiofiletemplatesinthefolder
C:\ProgramFiles\MicrosoftVisualStudio
8\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplatesCache\CSharp\1033
.(ThisfolderhasthetemplatesforC#,
butyoucaneasilyfindthecorrespondingfoldersoranyotherlanguage)

25. Avoidhavingverylargefiles.Ifasinglefilehasmorethan1000linesofcode,itisagood
candidateforrefactoring.Splitthemlogicallyintotwoormoreclasses.

26. Avoidpublicmethodsandproperties,unlesstheyreallyneedtobeaccessedfromoutsidethe
class.Useinternaliftheyareaccessedonlywithinthesameassembly.

27. Avoidpassingtoomanyparameterstoamethod.Ifyouhavemorethan4~5parameters,itisa
goodcandidatetodefineaclassorstructure.

28. Ifyouhaveamethodreturningacollection,returnanemptycollectioninsteadofnull,ifyou
havenodatatoreturn.Forexample,ifyouhaveamethodreturninganArrayList,alwaysreturn
avalidArrayList.Ifyouhavenoitemstoreturn,thenreturnavalidArrayListwith0items.This
willmakeiteasyforthecallingapplicationtojustcheckforthecountratherthandoingan
additionalcheckfornull.

29. UsetheAssemblyInfofiletofillinformationlikeversionnumber,description,companyname,
copyrightnoticeetc.

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

30. Logicallyorganizeallyourfileswithinappropriatefolders.Use2levelfolderhierarchies.You
canhaveupto10foldersintherootfolderandeachfoldercanhaveupto5subfolders.Ifyou
havetoomanyfoldersthancannotbeaccommodatedwiththeabovementioned2level
hierarchy,youmayneedrefactoringintomultipleassemblies.

16. Makesureyouhaveagoodloggingclasswhichcanbeconfiguredtologerrors,warningor
traces.Ifyouconfiguretologerrors,itshouldonlylogerrors.Butifyouconfiguretologtraces,it
shouldrecordall(errors,warningsandtrace).Yourlogclassshouldbewrittensuchawaythat
infutureyoucanchangeiteasilytologtoWindowsEventLog,SQLServer,orEmailto
administratorortoaFileetcwithoutanychangeinanyotherpartoftheapplication.Usethelog
classextensivelythroughoutthecodetorecorderrors,warningandeventracemessagesthat
canhelpyoutroubleshootaproblem.

17. Ifyouareopeningdatabaseconnections,sockets,filestreametc,alwaysclosetheminthe
finally
block.Thiswillensurethatevenifanexceptionoccursafteropeningtheconnection,it
willbesafelyclosedinthef
inally
block.

18. Declarevariablesascloseaspossibletowhereitisfirstused.Useonevariabledeclarationper
line.

19. UseStringBuilderclassinsteadofStringwhenyouhavetomanipulatestringobjectsinaloop.
TheStringobjectworksinweirdwayin.NET.Eachtimeyouappendastring,itisactually
discardingtheoldstringobjectandrecreatinganewobject,whichisarelativelyexpensive
operations.

Considerthefollowingexample:

publicstringComposeMessage(string[]lines)
{
stringmessage=String.Empty

for(inti=0i<lines.Lengthi++)
{
message+=lines[i]
}

returnmessage
}

Intheaboveexample,itmaylooklikewearejustappendingtothestringobjectmessage.But
whatishappeninginrealityis,thestringobjectisdiscardedineachiterationandrecreatedand
appendingthelinetoit.

Ifyourloophasseveraliterations,thenitisagoodideatouseStringBuilderclassinsteadof
Stringobject.

SeetheexamplewheretheStringobjectisreplacedwithStringBuilder.

publicstringComposeMessage(string[]lines)
{
StringBuildermessage=newStringBuilder()

for(inti=0i<lines.Lengthi++)
{
message.Append(lines[i])
}

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx


returnmessage.ToString()
}

10.

Architecture

1.

2.

3.

4.

Alwaysusemultilayer(NTier)architecture.
NeveraccessdatabasefromtheUIpages.Alwayshaveadatalayerclasswhichperformsall
thedatabaserelatedtasks.Thiswillhelpyousupportormigratetoanotherdatabasebackend
easily.
Usetrycatchinyourdatalayertocatchalldatabaseexceptions.Thisexceptionhandlershould
recordallexceptionsfromthedatabase.Thedetailsrecordedshouldincludethenameofthe
commandbeingexecuted,storedprocname,parameters,connectionstringusedetc.After
recordingtheexception,itcouldberethrownsothatanotherlayerintheapplicationcancatch
itandtakeappropriateaction.
Separateyourapplicationintomultipleassemblies.Groupallindependentutilityclassesintoa
separateclasslibrary.Allyourdatabaserelatedfilescanbeinanotherclasslibrary.

11.

ASP.NET

1.

2.

3.

Donotusesessionvariablesthroughoutthecode.Usesessionvariablesonlywithintheclasses
andexposemethodstoaccessthevaluestoredinthesessionvariables.Aclasscanaccess
thesessionusing
System.Web.HttpCOntext.Current.Session
Donotstorelargeobjectsinsession.Storinglargeobjectsinsessionmayconsumelotofserver
memorydependingonthenumberofusers.
Alwaysusestylesheettocontrolthelookandfeelofthepages.Neverspecifyfontnameand
fontsizeinanyofthepages.Useappropriatestyleclass.ThiswillhelpyoutochangetheUIof
yourapplicationeasilyinfuture.Also,ifyouliketosupportcustomizingtheUIforeach
customer,itisjustamatterofdevelopinganotherstylesheetforthem

12.

Comments

Goodandmeaningfulcommentsmakecodemoremaintainable.However,

1.

2.

3.

4.

Donotwritecommentsforeverylineofcodeandeveryvariabledeclared.
Use
//
or
///
forcomments.Avoidusing
/**/
Writecommentswhereverrequired.Butgoodreadablecodewillrequireverylesscomments.If
allvariablesandmethodnamesaremeaningful,thatwouldmakethecodeveryreadableand
willnotneedmanycomments.
Donotwritecommentsifthecodeiseasilyunderstandablewithoutcomment.Thedrawbackof
havinglotofcommentsis,ifyouchangethecodeandforgettochangethecomment,itwilllead
tomoreconfusion.

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Fewerlinesofcommentswillmakethecodemoreelegant.Butifthecodeisnotclean/readable
andtherearelesscomments,thatisworse.
Ifyouhavetousesomecomplexorweirdlogicforanyreason,documentitverywellwith
sufficientcomments.
Ifyouinitializeanumericvariabletoaspecialnumberotherthan0,1etc,documentthereason
forchoosingthatvalue.
Thebottomlineis,writeclean,readablecodesuchawaythatitdoesn'tneedanycommentsto
understand.
Perform
spellingcheckoncommentsandalsomakesurepropergrammarandpunctuationis
used.

13.

ExceptionHandling

1.

2.

3.

Neverdoa'catchexceptionanddonothing'.Ifyouhideanexception,youwillneverknowifthe
exceptionhappenedornot.Lotofdevelopersusesthishandymethodtoignorenonsignificant
errors.Youshouldalwaystrytoavoidexceptionsbycheckingalltheerrorconditions
programmatically.Inanycase,catchinganexceptionanddoingnothingisnotallowed.Inthe
worstcase,youshouldlogtheexceptionandproceed.
Incaseofexceptions,giveafriendlymessagetotheuser,butlogtheactualerrorwithall
possibledetailsabouttheerror,includingthetimeitoccurred,methodandclassnameetc.
Alwayscatchonlythespecificexception,notgenericexception.

Good:

voidReadFromFile(stringfileName)
{
try
{
//readfromfile.
}
catch(FileIOExceptionex)
{
//logerror.
//rethrowexceptiondependingonyourcase.
throw
}
}

NotGood:

voidReadFromFile(stringfileName)
{
try
{
//readfromfile.
}
catch(Exceptionex)

{
//Catchinggeneralexceptionisbad...wewillneverknowwhether

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx

//itwasafileerrororsomeothererror.

//Hereyouarehidinganexception.
//Inthiscasenoonewilleverknowthatanexceptionhappened.

return""

}
}

4.

Noneedtocatchthegeneralexceptioninallyourmethods.Leaveitopenandlettheapplicationcrash.
Thiswillhelpyoufindmostoftheerrorsduringdevelopmentcycle.Youcanhaveanapplicationlevel
(threadlevel)errorhandlerwhereyoucanhandleallgeneralexceptions.Incaseofan'unexpected
generalerror',thiserrorhandlershouldcatchtheexceptionandshouldlogtheerrorinadditiontogiving
afriendlymessagetotheuserbeforeclosingtheapplication,orallowingtheuserto'ignoreand
proceed'.

5.

Whenyourethrowanexception,usethe
throw
statementwithoutspecifyingtheoriginalexception.
Thisway,theoriginalcallstackispreserved.

Good:

catch
{
//dowhateveryouwanttohandletheexception

throw
}

NotGood:

catch(Exceptionex)
{
//dowhateveryouwanttohandletheexception

throwex
}

6.

Donotwritetrycatchinallyourmethods.Useitonlyifthereisapossibilitythataspecificexception
mayoccuranditcannotbepreventedbyanyothermeans.Forexample,ifyouwanttoinsertarecordif
itdoesnotalreadyexistsindatabase,youshouldtrytoselectrecordusingthekey.Somedevelopers
trytoinsertarecordwithoutcheckingifitalreadyexists.Ifanexceptionoccurs,theywillassumethat
therecordalreadyexists.Thisisstrictlynotallowed.Youshouldalwaysexplicitlycheckforerrorsrather
thanwaitingforexceptionstooccur.Ontheotherhand,youshouldalwaysuseexceptionhandlers
whileyoucommunicatewithexternalsystemslikenetwork,hardwaredevicesetc.Suchsystemsare
subjecttofailureanytimeanderrorcheckingisnotusuallyreliable.Inthosecases,youshoulduse
exceptionhandlersandtrytorecoverfromerror.

7.

Donotwriteverylargetrycatchblocks.Ifrequired,writeseparatetrycatchforeachtaskyouperform
andencloseonlythespecificpieceofcodeinsidethetrycatch.Thiswillhelpyoufindwhichpieceof
codegeneratedtheexceptionandyoucangivespecificerrormessagetotheuser.

8.

Writeyourowncustomexceptionclassesifrequiredinyourapplication.Donotderiveyourcustom
exceptionsfromthebaseclassSystemException.Instead,inheritfromApplicationException.

http://www.dotnetspider.com/tutorials/BestPractices.aspx