C # dictionary naming convention

Question

What do we call a dictionary variable?

Say in my method, I have a Dictionary<string, List<string>> dictionary; , where dictionary keys are country names and values ​​are lists of provincial / state names. How do I rename a dictionary ?

I know that we can create a Country class for this example. But please do not mention this alternative, because I am thinking of a good naming convention here.

Answer 1

 ProvincesByCountry 

Answer 2

I mainly use one of the following:

• CountryToStatesDictionary
• CountryToStatesMap
• CountryToStatesMapping

Answer 3

I like XtoYMap or YFromX .

Answer 4

Naming is always contextual. Thus, in this particular case, it is advisable to indicate some name that defines the comparison of the country with the state.

if it's just a device for a loop in a wider context, and then discarded, I usually just go with the short temporary type var, like ...

 var dict = GetCountryStateMapping(); foreach(var item in dict) { //Something.... } 

Answer 5

ProvincesByCountry is not explicit enough as it sounds like a one-to-one mapping of countries to provinces. When accessing ProvincesByCountry ["Germany"], I expected that one value is an object, not a list of objects.

My personal template is similar:

 [Plural of a noun describing the value]By[Singular of a noun describing the key] 

However, if the noun describing the meaning is plural in nature, then I use postfix arrays or lists, since in English you cannot plural. I personally always stick with arrays, regardless of the actual implementation of IEnumerable or IEnumerable <T> I use, whether it be List, Array, or something else.

In your case, it refers to:

 ProvinceArraysByCountry 

Tells what it is with scientific accuracy.

I apply this rule recursively if there are dictionaries as values. The access order then goes in reverse order to the word order in the name. Imagine you are adding planets:

 ProvinceArraysByCountryByPlanet["Earth"]["Germany"][0] = "Bavaria" ProvinceArraysByCountryByPlanet["Earth"]["Germany"][1] = "Rhineland-Palatinate" 

And finally, the last little touch. If such a dictionary compares the properties of the object and the objects themselves, I leave the word describing the object in the key section. Here is what I mean:

 NodesByIndex[node.Index] = node; // - Do NodesByNodeIndex[node.Index] = node; // - Don't 

I use this template unconditionally, which is good, since it leaves absolutely no room for guesswork. Con this sometimes generates fairly long names. But I have no idea how to always have explicit, but always short names. You must always compromise. And this, of course, is a matter of taste.

This pattern does not work (or at least you break the brain) when the keys are also dictionaries, or when you have a list of dictionaries, lists of dictionaries or some other crazy exotic things. But I do not remember that there were many levels of nesting, so I am pleased with this.

Answer 6

provinces, provinceMap, province

Everyone comes to mind. I like regionMap. If this is a member field, I would add the prefix "m_", as in "m_provinceMap".