Are there established alternatives to ISomething / ISomethingable for interfaces?

Question

The .NET standard of prefixing an interface name with an I seems to be becoming widespread and isn't just limited to .NET any more. I have come across a lot of Java code that uses this convention (so it wouldn't surprise me if Java used it before C# did). Also Flex uses it, and so on. The placing of an I at the start of the name smacks of Hungarian notation though and so I'm uncomfortable with using it.

So the question is, is there an alternative way of denoting that Something is an interface, rather than a class and is there any need to denote it like this anyway. Or is it a case its become a standard and so I should just accept it and stop trying to stir up "religious wars" by suggesting it be done differently?

Answer 1

From the Framework Design Guidelines book:

Interfaces representing roots of a hierarchy (e.g. IList) should also use nouns or noun phrases. Interfaces representing capabilities should use adjectives and adjective phrases (e.g. IComparable, IFormattable).

Also, from the annotations on interface naming:

KRZYSZTOF CWALINA: One of the few prefixes used is “I” for interfaces (as in ICollection), but that is for historical reasons. In retrospect, I think it would have been better to use regular type names. In a majority of the cases developers don’t care that something is an interface and not an abstract class, for example.

BRAD ABRAMS: On the other hand, the “I” prefix on interfaces is a clear recognition of the influence of COM (and Java) on the .NET Framework. COM popularized, even institutionalized, the notation that interfaces begin with “I.” Although we discussed diverging from this historic pattern we decided to carry forward the pattern as so many of our users were already familiar with COM.

JEFFREY RICHTER: Personally, I like the “I” prefix and I wish we had more stuff like this. Little one-character prefixes go a long way toward keeping code terse and yet descriptive. As I said earlier, I use prefixes for my private type fields because I find this very useful.

BRENT RECTOR Note: this is really another application of Hungarian notation (though one without the disadvantages of the notation's use in variable names).

It has very much become a widely adopted standard, and while it is a form of Hungarian, as Brent states, it doesn't suffer from the disadvantages of using Hungarian notation in variable names.

Answer 2

I would just accept it, to be honest. I know what you mean about being a bit like Hungarian notation (or at least abuse of the same) but I think it gives sufficient value to be worth doing in this case.

With dependency injection being in vogue, often I find I end up with an interface and a single production implementation. It's handy to make them easily distinguishable just with the I prefix.

One little data point: I work with both Java and C# a fair amount, and I regularly find myself having to check which types in Java are actually interfaces, particularly around the collection framework. .NET just makes this simple. Maybe it doesn't bother other people, but it bothers me.

+1 for IFoo from me.

Answer 3

As a .NET programmer (for the most part), I actually prefer the Java convention of dropping the I here, for a simple reason: Often, small redesigns require the change from an interface into an abstract base class or vice versa. If you have to change the name, this might require a lot of unnecessary refactoring.

On the other hand, usage for the client should be transparent so they shouldn't care for this type hint. Furthermore, the “able” suffix in `Thingable” should be enough of a hint. It works well enough in Java.

/EDIT: I'd like to point out that the above reasoning had prompted me to drop the I prefix for private projects. However, upon checking one of them against the FxCop rule set, I promptly reverted to the usage of I. Consistency wins here, even though a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Answer 4

Its all about style and readability. Prefixing Interfaces with "I" is merely a naming convention and style guideline that has caught on. The compilers themselves couldn't care less.