: this() As a constructor

Question

I'm trying to get a better understanding of general practice... specifically deriving this() in a constructor. I understand that its less code, but I consider it less readable. Is it common/good practice to do it this way? Or is it better to write a second constructor that handles it specifically?

public SomeOtherStuff(string rabble) : this(rabble, "bloop") { }

or

Public SomeOtherStuff(string rabble)
{
    //set bloop
}

Any input would be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

It is good practice to use this() whenever possible. Otherwise you will be duplicating some code, which violates the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle. The problem with repeating yourself is that every time you need to make a change — even if it’s a simple change to a single line of code — you have to remember to make the same change in multiple places, and keep the multiple copies synchronised.

You should only “duplicate” the code when you need to because it needs to be different, so it’s no longer a duplicate. This way, having a duplicate is a message to the reader that the code is actually different, and is so for a reason.