String.Format or Not? [duplicate]

Question

Duplicate from : String output: format or concat in C#?

Especially in C# world using String.Format for everything is really common, normally as VB.NET developer unless I have to* I don't String.Format,

I prefer normal string concatenation, such as:

V1 = V2 & "test-x" & V3 & "-;"

to me it's better than this:

V1 = String.Format("{0} test-x {1} -;", V2, V3)

Am I missing something? Or is this just a personal preference?

Reasons to Use String.Format (From The Answers) (I'll try to keep this up to date)

• Localization is so much easier if you use String Format
• Obviously it's easier to change the format of input
• It's more readable (however this is personal)
• Better Performance

**Sometimes I need to change the style or replacing stuff dynamically then I use String.Format*

Answer 1

If you're ever going to localize your application (and it's often hard to rule that out at the start), then String.Format is to be much preferred, for two reasons:

1. You have only one string literal to translate
2. You can change the order of the values, which may make more sense in another language.

Answer 2

Everyone has posted about how readable string.format is (which I accept, and it has null ref and internationalisation benefits yes) but nobody has mentioned that it's considerably slower than simple string concatenation (small number of elements) or using StringBuilder (large number of concats).

If performance matters or you're doing a large number of operations (so performance soon will matter) then you should avoid format.

Edit: References as requested ;)

http://msmvps.com/blogs/jon_skeet/archive/2008/10/06/formatting-strings.aspx

http://blog.briandicroce.com/2008/02/04/stringbuilder-vs-string-performance-in-net/