In OOP, what is the best practice in regards to using "this" inside a class?

Question

Something I've always wondered; in a class where you can reference a member by either using 'this.[NAME]' or simply [NAME], which is preferred?

For example in Java:

public class foo {
    public int bars = 0;
    private void incrementBars(){
        bars++;
    }
}   

and

public class foo {
    public int bars = 0;
    private void incrementBars(){
        this.bars++;
    }
}

'seem' to have the same effect.

In cases where I instantiate multiple instances of class foo, I'd, so far, do something like:

for (foo f : listOfFoos){
    f.incrementBars();
}

and it seems to still work.

Is it technically ambiguous, and if so is there a preferred way?

Answer 1

use this in the case of variable shadowing.

 class MyClass{
        int i;//1
        public void myMethod(){
            i = 10;//referring to 1    
        }

        public void myMethod(int i){//2
            i = 10;//referring to 2
            this.i = 10 //refering to 1    
        }    
    }  

also sometime this will make code more readable due to our English mindset

Answer 2

There's no ambiguity. If there were, you'd have to use this.

Some people recommend this for clarity. Others recommend against it when it's not required, as it introduces "noise". Some modern IDEs or editors may be able to use syntax highlighting to color (for instance) arguments differently from fields for clarity.

Personally I avoid this when I can and use @unholysampler's underscore convention. Agree on something with your coworkers and put it in your coding standards.