Question

I have an object model somewhat like this:

public class MyObject

    {
      public string String1 { get; set; }
      public string String2 { get; set; }
      ...
    }

When the object initializes, all the string values are set to null.

Later on, I’m writing a method that evaluates the value of these strings to prepare an update in the DB. Something like this:

if (TheObject.String1 != null) { TheObjectInDB.String1 = TheObject.String1; }
if (TheObject.String2 != null) { TheObjectInDB.String2 = TheObject.String1; }

TheObject is an instance of MyObject and TheObjectInDB is an instance of the linq-to-sql map for the table I’m updating.

My question is this: is using the null a safe way to do it or could it cause problems later? Should I create a constructor that initializes these strings to “” and in the update check if the strings are = “” instead of = null?

Thanks for the advice.

Answer 1

There is nothing more, or less safe about null or an empty string. It is entirely your choice. Because both are often used to indicate the abscence of data or information, there is a convenience method string.IsNullOrEmpty that allows you to accept either value.

In your case, I would stick with the easiest option, null.