When to Use “this” in C# .NET Code

This .NET C# blog post will explain when to use the “this” keyword in a C# application and its purpose.

The keyword “this” in .NET distinguishes between a variable (a field) and a parameter with the same name. When using “this”, it will prefix the variable, not the parameter.

Code Example

In the following code, I have an instance variable (called x) and a constructor parameter with the same name (x). I will use the “this” keyword to refer to the instance variable.

public class MyClass
{
    private int x;

    public MyClass(int x)
    {
        this.x= value; // 'this' refers to the instance variable x
    }
}

We can also use the “this” keyword to access a Method or a Property, as shown in the following example.

public class MyClass
{
    private int x;

    public void SetValue(int y)
    {
        this.x= y; // 'this' refers to the x instance variable
    }

    public int GetValue()
    {
        return this.x; // Retu
    }
}
 

Closing

Using the “this” keyword prevents writing ambiguous statements where the compiler doesn’t know how to distinguish between a variable and a parameter with the same name.