Comments on: C#: Object Initializer and The Horse Shoe

By: Builders hanging off class vs Builders in same namespace at Mark Needham

Builders hanging off class vs Builders in same namespace at Mark Needham — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:56:16 +0000

[...] benefit of this approach is that it means we can make use of the object initializer to setup test data – perhaps one of the few occasions when it seems to be reasonably [...]

By: F#: Setting properties like named parameters at Mark Needham

F#: Setting properties like named parameters at Mark Needham — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:30:46 +0000

[...] C# we would typically make use of the object initializer syntax to do this, but in F# I’ve been writing code like this to do the same thing: type [...]

By: Coding: Setters reduce trust at Mark Needham

Coding: Setters reduce trust at Mark Needham — Sat, 23 May 2009 06:37:24 +0000

[...] written previously about my dislike of the way the object initialiser is misused in C# 3.0 and although I’ve also written about my preference for explicit modeling and the need for objects [...]

By: Coding: Good Citizens at Mark Needham

Coding: Good Citizens at Mark Needham — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:00:09 +0000

[...] is the main reason I find the C# object initializer syntax such a nightmare – it gets blatantly abused and you end up with half constructed objects all around [...]

By: Reflective Perspective - Chris Alcock » The Morning Brew #288

Reflective Perspective - Chris Alcock » The Morning Brew #288 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:39:56 +0000

[...] C#: Object Initializer and The Horse Shoe – Mark Needham looks at object initialisers and how they can lead to messy ‘horse shoe’ like code [...]

By: Arjan`s World » LINKBLOG for Feburary 16, 2009

Arjan`s World » LINKBLOG for Feburary 16, 2009 — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:10:44 +0000

[...] C#: Object Initializer and The Horse Shoe – Mark Needham [...]

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:20:03 +0000

I think this, as with so many things in software development, isn’t an either/or question, it’s a when.

C# gives us the tools, but it’s up to us to use them wisely and appropriately.

If a given property should always have a value, then the design of the class and its constructor(s) should be such that this is guaranteed — null values shouldn’t even be a possibility.

If a developer is coding and winds up with the horseshoe code above, then its time for him to work on his coding style — but I’d have the same issue with something like this:

new Foo(new Bar( new Baz(new Other(“value”,”otherValue”)));

In my opinion, this is no more readable than the other example, so it’s not necessarily the tool, but the person using it that’s the problem.

For me, the right use of this tool is in combination with constructors, not in place of. The constructor is for required fields at a minimum and initialization is for those that aren’t available in the constructor.