Naming Guidelines

A consistent naming pattern is one of the most important elements of predictability and discoverability in a managed class library. Widespread use and understanding of these naming guidelines should eliminate many of the most common user questions. This topic provides naming guidelines for the .NET Framework types. For each type, you should also take note of some general rules with respect to capitalization styles, case sensitivity and word choice.

In This Section

• Capitalization Styles
  Describes the Pascal case, camel case, and uppercase capitalization styles to use to name identifiers in class libraries.
• Case Sensitivity
  Describes the case sensitivity guidelines to follow when naming identifiers in class libraries.
• Abbreviations
  Describes the guidelines for using abbreviations in type names.
• Word Choice
  Lists the keywords to avoid using in type names.
• Avoiding Type Name Confusion
  Describes how to avoid using language-specific terminology in order to avoid type name confusion.
• Namespace Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming namespaces.
• Class Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming classes.
• Interface Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming interfaces.
• Attribute Naming Guidelines
  Describes the correct way to name an attribute using the Attribute suffix.
• Enumeration Type Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming enumerations.
• Static Field Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming static fields.
• Parameter Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming parameters.
• Method Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming methods.
• Property Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming properties.
• Event Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming events.

Related Sections

• Class Member Usage Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines for using properties, events, methods, constructors, fields, and parameters in class libraries.
• Type Usage Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines for using classes, value types, delegates, attributes, and nested types in class libraries.
• Design Guidelines for Class Library Developers
  Provides naming and usage guidelines for types in the .NET Framework as well as guidelines for implementing common design patterns.