C.1 General naming conventions

The casing conventions for C# are shown in Table C.2

Table C.2. Casing conventions for C#

Category	Casing
Local variables	Camel casing
Parameters passed into methods ( considered local variables)	Camel casing
All other identifiers ( names of namespaces, classes, interfaces, all class members )	Pascal casing

This implies that your method and field names should use Pascal casing, like your classes. In C#, camel casing should be reserved only for local variables. ^[2]

^[2] This is very different from Java's naming conventions. Java advocates that all class and interface identifiers should use Pascal casing, and all other identifiers use camel casing. C# says that all identifiers should use Pascal casing, except for local variables which should use camel casing.

Table C.3 lists some common suffixes and prefixes that should be used in C#.

Table C.3. Special naming requirements for naming C# members

Category	Naming comments
Attributes	Suffix with Attribute
Exceptions	Suffix with Exception
Events	Suffix with Event
Event arguments	Suffix with EventArgs
Event handler delegate	Suffix with EventHandler
Interfaces	Prefix with I
Pointer variables	Prefix with p

Additional notes

• Hungarian notation is to be avoided, even for method parameters.

• All upper case casing is to be avoided, even for constants. Use Pascal casing for constants. ^[3]

  ^[3] I have noticed that some constants in sample C# codes in the MSDN documentation and VS.NEThelp files are being named using all upper case casing. However, it is clearly noted in the C# Language Specification itself about constants using the Pascal notation. As I have mentioned, conventions and guidelines are flexible, but I would recommend following the official language specification.

• The only occasion when all upper case casing can be considered is when the whole name is an abbreviation. For example, instead of choosing Windows.Forms.UserInterface as a namespace, you can use Windows. Forms. UI since 'UI' is universally accepted as an abbreviation for user interface.

• All other commonsense guidelines apply. For example, you should select meaningful names for identifiers and use abbreviations sparingly (or avoid them altogether). ^[4]

  ^[4] Commonsense guidelines are not listed here because people without commonsense won't make developers.