1. Naming Conventions

Consistent and meaningful naming is crucial for code readability and maintainability.

General Rules

• Use PascalCase for public members (classes, methods, properties, events).
• Use camelCase for private fields and method parameters.
• Avoid abbreviations unless they are universally understood (e.g., `Id`, `Xml`).
• Be descriptive. A name should convey the purpose of the element.

Examples

// Good
public class UserProfile {
    private string _userName;
    public string UserName { get; set; }
    public void UpdateProfile(string newUserName) { ... }
}

// Less ideal
public class UsrProf {
    private string _usr;
    public string Usr { get; set; }
    public void UpdUsr(string nUsr) { ... }
}
                

2. Exception Handling

Handle exceptions gracefully to prevent application crashes and provide meaningful feedback.

Key Principles

• Catch specific exceptions rather than a generic Exception where possible.
• Don't swallow exceptions; log them or rethrow them if you can't handle them fully.
• Use exceptions for exceptional circumstances, not for control flow.
• Use using statements for disposable objects to ensure proper cleanup.

try {
    using (var reader = new StreamReader("file.txt")) {
        string line = reader.ReadLine();
        // Process the line
    }
} catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
    LogError("Configuration file not found.", ex);
    // Provide a default configuration or inform the user
} catch (IOException ex) {
    LogError("Error reading configuration file.", ex);
    // Handle other file reading errors
}
                    

3. Resource Management

Properly manage unmanaged resources (like file handles, network connections, database connections) to avoid memory leaks and improve performance.

IDisposable and using

Implement the IDisposable interface for classes that manage unmanaged resources. The using statement ensures that the Dispose() method is called automatically, even if exceptions occur.

public class MyResourceWrapper : IDisposable {
    private IntPtr unmanagedHandle; // Example unmanaged resource

    public MyResourceWrapper() {
        // Initialize and acquire unmanaged resource
        unmanagedHandle = AllocateUnmanagedResource();
    }

    public void DoSomething() {
        // Use the unmanaged resource
    }

    private bool disposed = false;

    protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing) {
        if (!disposed) {
            if (disposing) {
                // Dispose managed resources here
            }
            // Dispose unmanaged resources here
            ReleaseUnmanagedResource(unmanagedHandle);
            unmanagedHandle = IntPtr.Zero;
            disposed = true;
        }
    }

    public void Dispose() {
        Dispose(true);
        GC.SuppressFinalize(this); // Prevent finalizer from running if already disposed
    }

    ~MyResourceWrapper() {
        Dispose(false); // Finalizer only disposes unmanaged resources
    }
}
                    

And use it like this:

using (var wrapper = new MyResourceWrapper()) {
    wrapper.DoSomething();
} // Dispose() is automatically called here
                    

4. Code Organization and Modularity

Structure your code logically to make it easier to understand, test, and maintain.

• Single Responsibility Principle (SRP): Each class, method, or module should have only one reason to change.
• Dependency Injection: Inject dependencies rather than hardcoding them. This improves testability and flexibility.
• Separation of Concerns: Divide your application into distinct layers (e.g., presentation, business logic, data access).
• Use Interfaces: Program against interfaces rather than concrete implementations.

5. Immutability

Favor immutable objects where possible. Once an immutable object is created, its state cannot be changed. This reduces the chances of unexpected side effects and simplifies concurrency.

Benefits

• Thread-safe by nature.
• Easier to reason about state.
• Can improve performance through caching.

public record Point(int X, int Y); // Immutable record type

// Usage:
var p1 = new Point(10, 20);
// p1.X = 15; // This would cause a compile-time error
var p2 = p1 with { Y = 30 }; // Creates a new Point with Y changed
                

6. Asynchronous Programming

Utilize asynchronous programming (`async` and `await`) to keep your applications responsive, especially for I/O-bound operations.

• Use async methods for operations that might take time and shouldn't block the calling thread.
• Always await asynchronous operations.
• Avoid returning void from async methods unless it's an event handler. Return Task or Task<T> instead.

public async Task<string> ReadFileContentAsync(string filePath) {
    try {
        return await File.ReadAllTextAsync(filePath);
    } catch (Exception ex) {
        LogError("Error reading file asynchronously.", ex);
        return string.Empty;
    }
}
                    

7. Unit Testing

Write comprehensive unit tests to verify the behavior of individual components of your application.

• Test small, focused units of code.
• Aim for high test coverage.
• Use mocking frameworks (e.g., Moq, NSubstitute) to isolate dependencies.
• Ensure tests are fast and reliable.