I have a function that takes in a bool, shown below:
public void LoadEndPoints(bool mock)
{
}
I can call this via LoadEndpoints(true) or LoadEndpoints(false), but this can be a bit hard to understand, as you need to know what true/false represents. Is there a way to pass the parameter name and value to a function such as LoadEndPoints(mock = true)?
Yes!
You can specify the parameter names like this:
myObject.LoadEndPoints(mock: true);
Further Reading
Another way to improve readability of your code would be to use an enum, like this:
public enum LoadOption
{
Normal,
Mock
}
public void LoadEndPoints(LoadOption option)
{
...
}
Then the call would look a bit like this:
myObject.LoadEndPoints(LoadOption.Mock);
You could use 'Named arguments', a C# 4.0 feature; and thus call: myObject.LoadEndPoints(mock : true);
If readability is indeed your prime concern, you could even expose two explicit methods, and internally reuse the logic - something similar to:
public void LoadEndPointsWithoutMock()
{
LoadEndPoints(false);
}
public void LoadEndPointsByMocking()
{
LoadEndPoints(true);
}
private void LoadEndPoints(bool mock)
{
}
Also, I wouldn't say that LoadEndPointsWithoutMock, etc. are great method names. Ideally, the names should have something to do with the domain.
You can use a KeyValuePair:
KeyValuePair kvp = new KeyValuePair(BoolType, BoolValue)
KeyValuePair?
Yes, you can do it with the following syntax in c#:
myObject.LoadEndPoints(mock : true);
And in VB:
myObject.LoadEndPoints(mock := true)
Use named parameters. Have a look at this Named and Optional Arguments
LoadEndPoints/LoadMockedEndPointsor; 2) Take in a enumeration (or other type) that conveys more meaning:LoadEndPoints(EndpointMode.MockOnly)or; 3) Move the configuration to a [class-level] setting:var epl = new EndPointLoader { Mock = true }; epl.LoadEndPoints(); etc.mockparameter. Perhaps the name could be expanded (e.g.mockOnly), but otherwise I think it's generally "ok". There are many methods that takebooltypes and it's up to the caller to know how to call the method correctly.