To "this." or not to "this.", that is the question...

Poolee

Hi there I'm relatively new to C#, so please exuse me if this seems n00bish... But, when referencing a control on a form is it good practice to include "this.", for example: **textBox1.Text = "Hello World";** -or- **this.textBox1.Text = "Hello World";** I ask this because I haven't seen any convention mentioned anywhere, or consistency. Does it even matter? Also, I note that within a contructor for a class, you might use the same variable name for a parsed variable as you would for the private local variable, eg:

public class fclsHelloWorld: Form
{
  private bool sayHelloWorld;

  public fclsHelloWorld ( bool args, bool sayHelloWorld )
  {
    InitializeComponent ();
    this.sayHelloWorld = sayHelloWorld;
  }
...
}

So, it's obviously needed to specify which variable you're referring to. Thanks in advance :-D Cheers Poolee

... pessimists are rarely disappointed ...

Luis Alonso Ramos

I almost never use this, unless it is the constructor case you mentioned.

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Pete OHanlon

In most cases, I've just seen people use the "this" keyword to trigger intellisense.

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Judah Gabriel Himango

I've seen people use it for intellisense (however, CTRL+J will bring up intellisense without having to type 'this'). Some tools, such as widely-used Resharper tool issues warnings for using 'this' when it's not needed. Since it purely is excess typing and more words to read while reading code, I recommend against using 'this' keyword unless it's warranted (e.g. the constructor example or passing the current class instance into a function).

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Martin 0

Hello,

Poolee wrote:

this.sayHelloWorld = sayHelloWorld;

X| I wouldn't want to see a codeline like this in my project! There for, I only need "this" when passing an instance to a function. (like Judah pointed out very well)

All the best, Martin

Colin Angus Mackay

I think it is a matter of style. I don't have anything against using this when it is superflous and I won't go around changing anyone's code that uses it. My personal style is to not use this unless it is needed or unless it helps code readability.

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V 0

You specify this to tell the compiler or yourself it's about this class, not somewhere else. I almost only use it in the constructor example you mentioned, and very occasionally when eg I do something with a form like this.Close(); or if(this.DialogResult == DialogResult.OK)... One of my colleagues uses this to point out variables that are defined globally in the class. Please, for the sake of your dear fellow colleagues, avoid this ..... in this case ;p !

V. No hurries, no worries

Malcolm Smart

Indexers have to be declared with 'this'.

public string this[string theThingIWant ]
{
   get 
   {
      return _myListOfStuff[theThingIWant];
   }
   set 
   {
      myListOfStuff[theThingIWant] = value;
   }
}

-- modified at 3:13 Friday 3rd August, 2007

"More functions should disregard input values and just return 12. It would make life easier." - comment posted on WTF

originSH

V. wrote:

One of my colleagues uses this to point out variables that are defined globally in the class. Please, for the sake of your dear fellow colleagues, avoid this ..... in this case

I find it more readable when this is used like this :P It's all down to style and personal preference.

V 0

yeah man f*ck this :laugh:

V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive

Poolee

Thanks for your reply. So just to clarify, you would use a differently-named private variable to the passed variable name? Cheers Poolee

... pessimists are rarely disappointed ...

Martin 0

Poolee wrote:

So just to clarify, you would use a differently-named private variable to the passed variable name?

Yes!!!!

All the best, Martin