Field Name Matches Class

ID

csharp.field_name_matches_class

Severity

info

Remediation Complexity

medium

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

medium

Resource

Code Smell

Language

CSharp

Tags

code-style, naming

Description

Reports a field whose name (compared case-insensitively) matches the name of the type that declares it, for example a field Account inside class Account. Sharing the name of the enclosing type confuses readers about whether an identifier refers to the value or the type.

Rationale

A field that carries its own type’s name reads ambiguously: at the use site it is unclear whether Account denotes the field or the class, and refactoring tools and humans alike are prone to confusing the two. Choosing a name that describes the field’s role instead of echoing the type keeps the code unambiguous.

public class Account
{
    private int Account;        // FLAW — field shares the type name
    private int balance;        // OK — descriptive field name
}

Remediation

Rename the field to describe what it holds (for instance balance, current, or value) rather than repeating the type name.

References