C# + ReSharper = Awesome: Tip #2 – Create Field

This is the second in a series of quick how-to posts on ReSharper.

Tip #2 – Create Field

Use: Within the body of a class or property, you can type the name of a non-existent variable name. When you place your cursor on the variable, ReSharper provides several options to resolve the impending compilation error. Create Field is one of the options.

Before

   1:          public void AddAlbum(string album)

   2:          {

   3:              if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(album))

   4:                  throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("album",

   5:                                                        album,

   6:                                                        "Please provide an album name.");

   7:   

   8:              _albums.Add(album);

   9:          }

Press <Alt+Enter>

After

        private IList<string> _albums = new List<string>();

        public void AddAlbum(string album)
        {
            if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(album))
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("album",
                                                      album,
                                                      "Please provide an album name.");

            _albums.Add(album);
        }

Note: I chose the type IList<string>. The default type selected by ReSharper in this case was object. I also added the initializer to the field to avoid null reference exceptions. Please don’t take any of these examples as best coding practices, they are contrived to demonstrate a particular refactoring.

Happy coding!