How to use switch case block in c# properly?

Question

I have a switch case statements in c#, here all the cases i made as private constants ,is there any bad programming practice going on here, or do i need to use enumeration here and enumerator in case block.Only three constants i showed here, i have ten constants and ten case block

private const String FEASIBLESIZE = "Total FEASIBLESIZE";
private const String AVAILABLESIZE = "Total AVAILABLESIZE";
private const String EXCESSSIZE = "Total EXCESSSIZE";
                          .
                          . 
switch (value.ToString())
{
    case FEASIBLESIZE:
        Level.Add(TEAMSIZE, test.ToString());
        break;

    case AVAILABLESIZE:
        Level.Add(BROADSIZE, test.ToString());                                
        break;

    case EXCESSSIZE:
        Level.Add(NARROWSIZE, test.ToString());
        break;
         .
         .
         .

ALLCAPS makes your C# code look like something written in COBOL in the early 70s. — Darin Dimitrov, Jul 13 '12 at 09:26
Uppercase is often used for constants in c#, which is this case. — Tomas Grosup, Jul 13 '12 at 09:29
@TomasGrosup, yes, as we can see in this question this is unfortunately is still the case. But this doesn't mean that the [standard C# naming conventions](http://10rem.net/articles/net-naming-conventions-and-programming-standards---best-practices) recommend it. Let me quote: `Do not use SCREAMING_CAPS`. So yeah, the fact that some people are still using this completely horrible convention doesn't mean that this is the C# standard convention. — Darin Dimitrov, Jul 13 '12 at 09:39

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 13 '12 at 09:28

5

Aside from the horrible formatting it looks roughly okay. Of course that's a bit hard to tell without actually knowing your code. Darin is correct though, in that you're not adhering to the default naming conventions (all caps is a no-go anywhere in C#).

But I have seen much worse, if that's any consolation.

answered Jul 13 '12 at 09:28

Joey

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+1 for `I have seen much worse, if that's any consolation` :-) – Darin Dimitrov Jul 13 '12 at 09:29

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 13 '12 at 09:29

What you are doing looks like something that can be replaced using a Dictionary<string,string> mapping from one size type to another.

var sizeMap = new Dictionary<string,string>();

sizeMap.Add(FEASIBLESIZE, TEAMSIZE);
sizeMap.Add(AVAILABLESIZE, BROADSIZE);
sizeMap.Add(EXCESSSIZE, NARROWSIZE);

And instead of the switch:

Level.Add(sizeMap[value.ToString()], test.ToString());

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 13 '12 at 09:29

3

Please try to scope the case with curly braces this is just individual style but helps when lines of code grows up and also always use the default: too

case FEASIBLESIZE:
{
  Level.Add(TEAMSIZE, test.ToString());
  break;
}
default:
///...
break;

answered Jul 13 '12 at 09:29

HatSoft

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score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 13 '12 at 09:45

2

Your constants appear to be a candidate for Enum, I would go for Enum rather than const here....

answered Jul 13 '12 at 09:45

Arif Eqbal

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good does it has any perfomance impacts? i think so can you explain the reason? – vettori Jul 13 '12 at 09:52
Based on your const values looks like they all describe Size so they are kind of a group so better to group them in an Enum. And I suppose Enum comparison in switch case should be faster. – Arif Eqbal Jul 13 '12 at 10:02
@vettori doesn't Oded's solution impress you? If my logic allowed I would go for what he suggested...You could still go for Enum the Dictionary becomes Dictionary – Arif Eqbal Jul 13 '12 at 10:06

atiyar · Answer 5 · 2012-07-13T10:21:23.443

1

Bad Programming Practice:

private const String FEASIBLESIZE = "Total FEASIBLESIZE";

Good Programming Practice:

private const String FEASIBLE_SIZE = "Total FEASIBLESIZE";

Better Programming Practice:

private const String FeasibleSize = "Total FEASIBLESIZE";

edited Jul 13 '12 at 10:21

answered Jul 13 '12 at 09:40

atiyar

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FEASIBLE_SIZE is a definite improvement over FEASIBLESIZE but AFAIK the recommended style for c# is FeasibleSize. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/242534/c-sharp-naming-convention-for-constants. – AlanT Jul 13 '12 at 09:47
@AlanT: AFAIK `FeasibleSize` is to use with variables, and `FEASIBLE_SIZE` with constant. – atiyar Jul 13 '12 at 09:50

How to use switch case block in c# properly?

5 Answers5