Naming Conventions

The naming conventions described below use the following terminology:

  • Pascal case: Multiple words are joined without spaces, using capital letters at the beginning of each word. If acronyms of 3 or more letters are included, only the first letter of the acronym is capitalized. For example, AverageAge, ContextBoundObject, RgbCode.
  • Camel case: The same as pascal case, except the first letter is not capitalized. For example, averageAge, contextBoundObject, rgbCode.

Namespaces

In CIS 300 programming assignments, namespace names will typically be provided. They will use the form Ksu.Cis300.ProgramName, where each of the 3 components is in pascal case. For example:

namespace Ksu.Cis300.Spreadsheet
{

}

Classes, Structures, and Enumerations

Use pascal case. If the name begins with “I”, the following letter must not be capitalized, as this would look like an interface - see below. For an exception class, append the word “Exception”. Make your names descriptive nouns or noun phrases without abbreviations (common abbreviations like “Min” are allowed). For example:

public class AccountManager
{

}

Interfaces

Use the convention for a class name with a capital “I” preceding the first letter (which must also be capitalized). For example:

public interface IPriorityQueue
{

}

Methods

Use pascal case. Make your names descriptive without abbreviations (common abbreviations like “Min” are allowed). For example:

private void InitializeComponent()
{

}
Warning

Automatically-generated event handlers don’t follow this convention. For example, suppose you generate a Click event handler by double-clicking a Button named uxUpdate. The event handler generated will then be given a name of uxUpdate_Click. You will need to rename it to UpdateClick. Be sure to use Visual Studio’s Rename feature, as this name will also need to be changed in automatically-generated code that you normally won’t edit.

Properties

Use pascal case. Make your names descriptive without abbreviations (common abbreviations are allowed). For example:

public int Count { get; private set; }

Controls on Forms

Use camel case, and begin names with “ux” followed by a capital letter (this “ux” stands for “user experience”). Make your names descriptive of the functionality, not the type of control. For example, uxAccept, uxCustomerName.

Note

You will not typically declare these names in code, but will enter them in the Visual Studio® design window.

public Constants (const or readonly)

Use pascal case. Make your names descriptive. For example:

public const double GravitationalAcceleration = 9.80665;

private Fields

Use camel case with an underscore character preceding the first letter. For example:

private double _weight;

This applies to all private fields, including those defined as const or readonly.

Parameters and Local Variables Within Methods

Use camel case. For example, inString and outString in the following code:

public string ToMixedCase(string inString)
{
    string outString;
    // code here
    return outString;
}