(Conventions) C# Class names

Question

I'm not too quite sure about what i should do about a grouped set of classes.

My situation: I have 11 classes that relate only to the class Character.cs, but all of those classes (including Character.cs and CharacterManager.cs) are within the namespace Models.Characters.

Which is the more "proper" or preferred way of naming the classes:

(examples):

CharacterDetails.cs CharacterSprites CharacterAppearance CharacterClientRights CharacterServerRights

or:

Details.cs Sprites Appearance ClientRights ServerRights

(They're all noticed in Models.Characters (so eg. Models.Characters.CharacterDetails, Models.Characters.Appearance)

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Personally I'd stick with the second method as that is what namespaces are for: grouping related sets of classes. The first method is just making the class names longer with negligible benefits.

Answer 2

Think about ambiguity that may be created by naming class. For example if I have a class called "Thread" denoting "CharacterThread" (hypothetical) and if some other class uses two namespaces

Models.Characters System.Diagnostics

I will have to fully qualify the Thread name everytime I use it ... which can be a pain sometimes

Answer 3

Your namespace already is grouping its classes under the Characters umbrella, so I would not name your classes with the Character moniker.

Answer 4

It is really a personal preference.

I would favor

CharacterDetails
CharacterSprites 
CharacterAppearance 
CharacterClientRights 
CharacterServerRights

Because it is more readable.

You are typically going to have a using statement of

Models.Characters.Appearance

Unless you are going to do the full notation.

I would favor anything that would increase readability. It might matter on the project and the team you are working with. If it is just you than do what you like best and would help you maintain the code in the future.

Answer 5

There is probably no right or wrong answer here. I find myself prefering your first style, but I have used the second style as well. I think in this specific situation if I were a caller of your API I would find it easier to read code that used the first style.

Answer 6

As long as you pick one and consistantly use that throughtout your code, then whichever one you choose is the right one.

My personal choice is your second option. If your namespace is character, I see no reason to use the prefix character in the class name.