Type Usage Guidelines

Types are the units of encapsulation in the common language runtime. For a detailed description of the complete list of data types supported by the runtime, see the Common Type System. This section provides usage guidelines for the basic kinds of types.

In This Section

• Base Class Usage Guidelines
  Describes how to implement base classes and when to use interfaces instead of classes.
• Value Type Usage Guidelines
  Describes how to use the Struct and Enum value types.
• Delegate Usage Guidelines
  Describes how to use delegates for event notifications and callback functions.
• Attribute Usage Guidelines
  Describes how to use attributes as declarative information to describe types.
• Nested Type Usage Guidelines
  Describes how to use types defined within the scope of another type.

Related Sections

• Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines for naming types in class libraries.
• Class Naming Guidelines
  Describes the guidelines to follow when naming classes.
• Attribute Naming Guidelines
  Describes the correct way to name an attribute using the Attribute suffix.
• Design Guidelines for Class Library Developers
  Provides naming and usage guidelines for types in the .NET Framework as well as guidelines for implementing common design patterns.