C# Documentation Best Practices
- Public members should be documented with XML comments.
- It is encouraged to document internal members as well, especially if they are complex or not self-explanatory.
Guidance for all APIs
- Use
<summary>to provide a brief, one sentence, description of what the type or member does. Start the summary with a present-tense, third-person verb. - Use
<remarks>for additional information, which can include implementation details, usage notes, or any other relevant context. - Use
<see langword>for language-specific keywords likenull,true,false,int,bool, etc. - Use
<c>for inline code snippets. - Use
<example>for usage examples on how to use the member.
- Use <code> for code blocks. <code> tags should be placed within an <example> tag. Add the language of the code example using the language attribute, for example, <code language="csharp">.
- Use
<see cref>to reference other types or members inline (in a sentence). - Use
<seealso>for standalone (not in a sentence) references to other types or members in the "See also" section of the online docs. - Use
<inheritdoc/>to inherit documentation from base classes or interfaces.
- Unless there is major behavior change, in which case you should document the differences.
Methods
- Use
<param>to describe method parameters.
- The description should be a noun phrase that doesn't specify the data type. - Begin with an introductory article. - If the parameter is a flag enum, start the description with "A bitwise combination of the enumeration values that specifies...". - If the parameter is a non-flag enum, start the description with "One of the enumeration values that specifies...". - If the parameter is a Boolean, the wording should be of the form "<see langword="true" /> to...; otherwise, <see langword="false" />.". - If the parameter is an "out" parameter, the wording should be of the form "When this method returns, contains.... This parameter is treated as uninitialized.".
- Use
<paramref>to reference parameter names in documentation. - Use
<typeparam>to describe type parameters in generic types or methods. - Use
<typeparamref>to reference type parameters in documentation. - Use
<returns>to describe what the method returns.
- The description should be a noun phrase that doesn't specify the data type. - Begin with an introductory article. - If the return type is Boolean, the wording should be of the form "<see langword="true" /> if...; otherwise, <see langword="false" />.".
Constructors
- The summary wording should be "Initializes a new instance of the class [or struct].".
Properties
- The
<summary>should start with:
- "Gets or sets..." for a read-write property. - "Gets..." for a read-only property. - "Gets [or sets] a value that indicates whether..." for properties that return a Boolean value.
- Use
<value>to describe the value of the property.
- The description should be a noun phrase that doesn't specify the data type. - If the property has a default value, add it in a separate sentence, for example, "The default is <see langword="false" />". - If the value type is Boolean, the wording should be of the form "<see langword="true" /> if...; otherwise, <see langword="false" />. The default is...".
Exceptions
- Use
<exception cref>to document exceptions thrown by constructors, properties, indexers, methods, operators, and events. - Document all exceptions thrown directly by the member.
- For exceptions thrown by nested members, document only the exceptions users are most likely to encounter.
- The description of the exception describes the condition under which it's thrown.
- Omit "Thrown if..." or "If..." at the beginning of the sentence. Just state the condition directly, for example "An error occurred when accessing a Message Queuing API."