Class Naming Guidelines

The following rules outline the guidelines for naming classes:

• Use a noun or noun phrase to name a class.
• Use Pascal case.
• Use abbreviations sparingly.
• Do not use a type prefix, such as C for class, on a class name. For example, use the class name FileStream rather than CFileStream.
• Do not use the underscore character (_).
• Occasionally, it is necessary to provide a class name that begins with the letter I, even though the class is not an interface. This is appropriate as long as I is the first letter of an entire word that is a part of the class name. For example, the class name IdentityStore is appropriate.
• Where appropriate, use a compound word to name a derived class. The second part of the derived class's name should be the name of the base class. For example, ApplicationException is an appropriate name for a class derived from a class named Exception, because ApplicationException is a kind of Exception. Use reasonable judgment in applying this rule. For example, Button is an appropriate name for a class derived from Control. Although a button is a kind of control, making Control a part of the class name would lengthen the name unnecessarily.

The following are examples of correctly named classes.

Public Class FileStream
Public Class Button
Public Class String
[C#]
public class FileStream
public class Button
public class String

See Also

Design Guidelines for Class Library Developers | Base Class Usage Guidelines