Is using underscore suffix for members beneficial?

Question

class C {  private:   int member_; // here is the underscore I refer to. } 

This underscore is recommended by Google Style Guide and Geosoft's C++ Style Guide.

I understand that there are different opinions and tastes.

I want to ask people who used it or were forced to use it whether they found it beneficial, neutral or harmful for them. And why?

Here is my answer:

I understand ask motivation behind it, but it does not convince me. I tried it and all I got was a little bit of clutter all over the class, but simpler initialization of members in constructor. I haven't encountered situation where underscore helped to differ between private member variable and other variable (except in mentioned initialization).

In that light I consider this style harmful.

Answer 1

Well since no one mentioned it: adding an underscore to member variable allows you to name your getter and setter with the 'conceptual' name of the variable.

ex:

class MyClass {    int someMember_;  public:    int someMember() const { return someMember_; }    void someMember( int newValue ) { someMember_ = newValue; } }; 

not that I use this style though.

Answer 2

I use "m_" as prefix for normal member variables and "s_" for static member variables. So the scope is directly visible.