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  3. String or string?

String or string?

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  • F Forogar

    When writing my C# code I was in the habit of using string (all lowercase) for strings declarations, etc. and String (capitalized) for method calls such as String.Empty and String.Format just as a sort of aide memoir that I was calling an object method. As I started to create String extension methods I reviewed this habit of mine and decided this was a pointless differentiation and switched to just using string all the time. At the same time I decided that my using Int32 for methods such as Int32.TryParse and just int in declarations, etc. was also pointless and perhaps confusing to others and so switched to using int all the time instead. It all compiles to the same IL code anyway so it was just a matter of style really. What do you think?

    - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

    I Offline
    I Offline
    icemanind
    wrote on last edited by
    #5

    I've always used the lowercase string when declaring a type, but I use the uppercase String when calling static methods. For example:

    string myString = "Hello World!";
    string anotherString = String.Format("{0}", "Hola!");

    Microsoft seems to do the same thing, as seen in some of their examples, like here.

    B 1 Reply Last reply
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    • F Forogar

      When writing my C# code I was in the habit of using string (all lowercase) for strings declarations, etc. and String (capitalized) for method calls such as String.Empty and String.Format just as a sort of aide memoir that I was calling an object method. As I started to create String extension methods I reviewed this habit of mine and decided this was a pointless differentiation and switched to just using string all the time. At the same time I decided that my using Int32 for methods such as Int32.TryParse and just int in declarations, etc. was also pointless and perhaps confusing to others and so switched to using int all the time instead. It all compiles to the same IL code anyway so it was just a matter of style really. What do you think?

      - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

      L Offline
      L Offline
      Lost User
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      In case I would ask same here... It's really a two (at least) class community :mad:

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • F Forogar

        When writing my C# code I was in the habit of using string (all lowercase) for strings declarations, etc. and String (capitalized) for method calls such as String.Empty and String.Format just as a sort of aide memoir that I was calling an object method. As I started to create String extension methods I reviewed this habit of mine and decided this was a pointless differentiation and switched to just using string all the time. At the same time I decided that my using Int32 for methods such as Int32.TryParse and just int in declarations, etc. was also pointless and perhaps confusing to others and so switched to using int all the time instead. It all compiles to the same IL code anyway so it was just a matter of style really. What do you think?

        - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

        L Offline
        L Offline
        Lost User
        wrote on last edited by
        #7

        Now that you have made up your mind, let me generate some doubts again. It's no secret that value types don't really exist. They are classes, reference types, that are made to behave like value types by the compiler. You can use tham as reference types if you wish by working with the classes. If you want the value type behavior, you use the alias and the compiler does the rest. The question which one to use is less a question of style. It's more a question of what you want to accomplish and strictly choosing one or the other limits your options without any real need.

        The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
        This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
        "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

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        • P PIEBALDconsult

          I also prefer the differentiation, and I know other Code Projectors have said the same thing. I dislike the aliases and I'd rather they weren't built in -- let the user define them as required. What I find crazy is that when specifying the underlying type for an enumeration, you must use the alias. X| And think I recall that there's a place where you mustn't use the alias.

          R Offline
          R Offline
          Richard Deeming
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          PIEBALDconsult wrote:

          What I find crazy is that when specifying the underlying type for an enumeration, you must use the alias. X|

          Not if you're using the Roslyn (C# 6 / VS2015) compiler:

          enum Foo : Int32
          {
          Bar,
          Baz,
          }


          "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

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          • L Lost User

            I used to think that String referred to a class, whereas string was just a simple type. I believe at some point in the past this was the case?? However, I now just use the lower case variant for simplicity.

            Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #9

            Could it be that you are confusing this with Java? .Net never had primitive types. One of the most important differences when the Java guys still dismissed c# as a bad copy of Java.

            The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
            This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
            "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

            L 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • L Lost User

              Now that you have made up your mind, let me generate some doubts again. It's no secret that value types don't really exist. They are classes, reference types, that are made to behave like value types by the compiler. You can use tham as reference types if you wish by working with the classes. If you want the value type behavior, you use the alias and the compiler does the rest. The question which one to use is less a question of style. It's more a question of what you want to accomplish and strictly choosing one or the other limits your options without any real need.

              The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
              This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
              "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

              R Offline
              R Offline
              Richard Deeming
              wrote on last edited by
              #10

              Are you sure you're not thinking of Java? :confused: With .NET, there's no difference in behaviour between using the class name or the alias.


              "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

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              • P PIEBALDconsult

                I also prefer the differentiation, and I know other Code Projectors have said the same thing. I dislike the aliases and I'd rather they weren't built in -- let the user define them as required. What I find crazy is that when specifying the underlying type for an enumeration, you must use the alias. X| And think I recall that there's a place where you mustn't use the alias.

                L Offline
                L Offline
                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #11

                There is a tiny difference, remember? Classes are reference types while the aliases are made to appear like value types for convenience.

                The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                L P 2 Replies Last reply
                0
                • L Lost User

                  Now that you have made up your mind, let me generate some doubts again. It's no secret that value types don't really exist. They are classes, reference types, that are made to behave like value types by the compiler. You can use tham as reference types if you wish by working with the classes. If you want the value type behavior, you use the alias and the compiler does the rest. The question which one to use is less a question of style. It's more a question of what you want to accomplish and strictly choosing one or the other limits your options without any real need.

                  The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                  This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                  "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #12

                  Value types fundamentally act differently in MSIL as well so it's not just a cheat. `int` is a real value type, it's even (along with most built-in types) extra special in the sense that it's built into MSIL directly. `Int32` is not a reference type either. String is a reference type, but so is string, it's just not very noticeable since it's mostly immutable.

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                  • R Richard Deeming

                    Are you sure you're not thinking of Java? :confused: With .NET, there's no difference in behaviour between using the class name or the alias.


                    "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

                    L Offline
                    L Offline
                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    Don't think so, when was the last time you had to initialize an int with new() before using it or check for null? Now try that with Int32, which without question is the class that corresponds to int.

                    The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                    This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                    "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                    L 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • L Lost User

                      Don't think so, when was the last time you had to initialize an int with new() before using it or check for null? Now try that with Int32, which without question is the class that corresponds to int.

                      The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                      This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                      "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                      L Offline
                      L Offline
                      Lost User
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #14

                      You mean like [this](http://ideone.com/zmqvAx) ?

                      L 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • L Lost User

                        There is a tiny difference, remember? Classes are reference types while the aliases are made to appear like value types for convenience.

                        The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                        This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                        "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                        L Offline
                        L Offline
                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #15

                        Classes are reference types but Int32 is a struct

                        L 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • L Lost User

                          Could it be that you are confusing this with Java? .Net never had primitive types. One of the most important differences when the Java guys still dismissed c# as a bad copy of Java.

                          The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                          This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                          "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                          L Offline
                          L Offline
                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #16

                          Quote:

                          Could it be that you are confusing this with Java?

                          No. I never studied Java. I probably was just confusing it with.....:confused:

                          Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!

                          L 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • P PIEBALDconsult

                            Cornelius Henning wrote:

                            I believe at some point in the past this was the case??

                            Nope, never. It's just an alias.

                            string
                            Visual Studio .NET 2003
                            The string type represents a string of Unicode characters. string is an alias for System.String in the .NET Framework.

                            L Offline
                            L Offline
                            Lost User
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #17

                            And now, is it important?

                            1 Reply Last reply
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                            • R Richard Deeming

                              Are you sure you're not thinking of Java? :confused: With .NET, there's no difference in behaviour between using the class name or the alias.


                              "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

                              F Offline
                              F Offline
                              Forogar
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #18

                              That's the point I was making. It was just a style decision really.

                              - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • L Lost User

                                Value types fundamentally act differently in MSIL as well so it's not just a cheat. `int` is a real value type, it's even (along with most built-in types) extra special in the sense that it's built into MSIL directly. `Int32` is not a reference type either. String is a reference type, but so is string, it's just not very noticeable since it's mostly immutable.

                                L Offline
                                L Offline
                                Lost User
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #19

                                Now it gets confusing. The MSDN does not mention any of this at first glance for the String class. They use string in their samples when they want to use it as a value type and describe how initializing a string with a literal leads to the generation of code that uses one of String's constructors in MISL.

                                The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                                This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                                "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                                L 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • L Lost User

                                  Now it gets confusing. The MSDN does not mention any of this at first glance for the String class. They use string in their samples when they want to use it as a value type and describe how initializing a string with a literal leads to the generation of code that uses one of String's constructors in MISL.

                                  The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                                  This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                                  "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                                  L Offline
                                  L Offline
                                  Lost User
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #20

                                  Well it's built-in, so it's always going to be a bit odd. Still, you can tell it's not a value type by [cheating](http://ideone.com/v9xjcG), if it was actually a value type it should be impossible to change the original, but as this experiment shows it is only made "impossible" by the immutability.

                                  L 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • L Lost User

                                    You mean like [this](http://ideone.com/zmqvAx) ?

                                    L Offline
                                    L Offline
                                    Lost User
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    I must admit that i have never tried to do that. Classes are reference types, (many) aliases are treated like value types. Always worked for me. Long ago I read a book when taking a look at .Net 1.0 and never had a need to question this.

                                    The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                                    This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                                    "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                                    R 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • F Forogar

                                      When writing my C# code I was in the habit of using string (all lowercase) for strings declarations, etc. and String (capitalized) for method calls such as String.Empty and String.Format just as a sort of aide memoir that I was calling an object method. As I started to create String extension methods I reviewed this habit of mine and decided this was a pointless differentiation and switched to just using string all the time. At the same time I decided that my using Int32 for methods such as Int32.TryParse and just int in declarations, etc. was also pointless and perhaps confusing to others and so switched to using int all the time instead. It all compiles to the same IL code anyway so it was just a matter of style really. What do you think?

                                      - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

                                      L Offline
                                      L Offline
                                      Lost User
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      This thread is getting me extremely confused :confused: Just kill it, PLEASE :-O :laugh:

                                      Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • L Lost User

                                        Quote:

                                        Could it be that you are confusing this with Java?

                                        No. I never studied Java. I probably was just confusing it with.....:confused:

                                        Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!

                                        L Offline
                                        L Offline
                                        Lost User
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #23

                                        .Net really never had primitive types, but down below I just heard that the line between the classes and the aliases as value types is not drawn as clearly as I believed.

                                        The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                                        This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                                        "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • I icemanind

                                          I've always used the lowercase string when declaring a type, but I use the uppercase String when calling static methods. For example:

                                          string myString = "Hello World!";
                                          string anotherString = String.Format("{0}", "Hola!");

                                          Microsoft seems to do the same thing, as seen in some of their examples, like here.

                                          B Offline
                                          B Offline
                                          Bryian Tan
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #24

                                          If the usage is correct, that make me think why the VS Intellisense still display "name can be simplified", "Show potential fixes", IDE0001 C# Name can be simplified. Isn't that "Show potential fixes" = there is a bug and here is the potential fix? After all VS is Microsoft product right? ;P ;P

                                          Bryian Tan

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