Question

Can static variables be initialized in a method? Is the following code valid? Thank you!

internal static class Common
{

    internal static int TimeOut;
    internal static string Name;


    internal static void Initialize()
    {
        TimeOut = Config.Read("timeout");
        Name = Config.Read("Name");
    }
}

Answer 1

Yes, they can. Your code is perfectly valid.

That being said, it’s often better to initialize then in a static constructor, or inline, as it prevents them from being used and accessed prior to initialization.

In your case, this would require using a static constructor, as you’re running code (Config.Read):

static Common()
{
    TimeOut = Config.Read("timeout");
    Name = Config.Read("Name");
}

I would also recommend using Properties instead of Fields for your static values, as this does provide some benefits, especially in terms of future-proofing your API. This can be as simple as:

internal static int TimeOut { get; set; }
internal static string Name { get; set; }

In your case, since these appear to be read once at initialization, you could potentially also use:

internal static int TimeOut { get; private set; }
internal static string Name { get; private set; }