Usage of the C# var keyword. Is there a Best Practice?

The C# var keyword was introduced in C# version 3.0. According to Eric Lippert from the Microsoft C# team it was included for 2 primary reasons:

1) To limit redundant code, such as:

Dictionary<string, List<int, bool>> myDictionary = new Dictionary<string, List<int,bool>>();

and write is as

var myDictionary = new Dictionary<string, List<int,bool>>();

2) To support anonymous types, which were necessary to implement LINQ, such as:

var car = new { Make = "Toyota", Model = "Camry" };

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Now, much of the code you see floating around on the Internet coming from experts use vars just about anywhere where it can be used. However, I have developed a personal preference, i.e. best practice if you will, that goes like this:

Value types, such as, int, bool, float, and string (as an exception) are explicity declared.
Reference types are declared with var.

Is there anything such as a 'C# var usage' Best Practice rule out there?

Henry Wong, Mar 17, 2011

Reply 1

Some good points Henry. You may be interested in this discussion as well. And yes, anonymous types, that's pretty useful for jquery/json scenarios...

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1205329/c-var-keyword-usage

Rajesh Pillai, Mar 17, 2011