Can I use F#'s Ticked Function name notation for C# Methods?

Question

In the F# language it is possible to name functions using ``Ticked function name notation``. It is extremely convenient for unit tests naming.

Is there any possibility to do this in the C# language? We can always use Underscored_method_names or PascalMethodNames, but it isn't as easy to read.

Answer 1

No, basically. C# type and member names cannot include whitespace (and cannot start with a number). There is support for disambiguating names from reserved keywords (the @ prefix), but that is about it.

When the long name is for display, often DisplayNameAttribute is useful, i.e.

[DisplayName("My class")]
public class MyClass {
    [DisplayName("Full name")]
    public string FullName {get;set;}
}

• but this won't help with your unit test desires.

Answer 2

Putting actual spaces (ASCII 32) in identifier names is not possible.

However, see this blog about (ab)using Unicode to insert other code points that look like spaces. The author describes a way to somewhat automate this using hotkeys.

I do not recommend you do this as it will cause serious problems with maintainability and debugging.