What does '@' at beginning of a variable mean?

Question

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What does the @ symbol before a variable name mean in C#?

I've seen this a couple of times in code that has been passed onto me:

try {
   //Do some stuff
}
catch(Exception @exception)
{
   //Do catch stuff
}

Can anyone please explain the purpose of the '@' at the beginning of the Exception variable?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/429529/what-does-the-symbol-before-a-variable-name-mean-in-c — Erik Noren, Jan 18 '11 at 16:40
Dupe of a dupe, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/429529/what-does-the-symbol-before-a-variable-name-mean-in-c — James, Jan 18 '11 at 16:41
@James I always get ninja'd by my long winded but thoroughly researched answers. I decided to take a shortcut this time. :) — Erik Noren, Jan 18 '11 at 16:42
@James: Don't worry about it! A mod will take care of it (probably with a merger.) :) — adamjford, Jan 18 '11 at 16:45

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 18 '11 at 16:41

4

It lets you name a variable using a reserved keyword.

For example:

var @class = "something"; // OK
var class = "something"; // Compilation error

answered Jan 18 '11 at 16:41

Oded

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 18 '11 at 16:41

0

Resharper outputs them sometimes if the name of the variable is close to a class name or a namespace i believe, it is just giving it a unique non clashing name

answered Jan 18 '11 at 16:41

TimC

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The @ is not part of the name, and thus does not add any uniqueness to it. In the example given it is superfluous. ReSharper outputs them (correctly) if the name is a reserved word. – R. Martinho Fernandes Jan 18 '11 at 16:43

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 18 '11 at 16:43

0

Shameless rip of Michael Meadows answer to a duplicate question follows.

The @ symbol allows you to use reserved word. For example:

int @class = 15;

The above works, when the below wouldn't:

int class = 15;

answered Jan 18 '11 at 16:43

James

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What does '@' at beginning of a variable mean?

3 Answers3