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POIs it wrong to use braces for variable scope purposes?
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  1. POIs it wrong to use braces for variable scope purposes?
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    copied!<p>I sometimes use braces to isolate a block of code to avoid using by mistake a variable later. For example, when I put several <code>SqlCommand</code>s in the same method, I frequently copy-paste blocks of code, ending by mixing the names and executing twice some commands. Adding braces helps to avoid this situation, because using a wrong <code>SqlCommand</code> in a wrong place will result in an error. Here's an illustration:</p> <pre><code>Collection&lt;string&gt; existingCategories = new Collection&lt;string&gt;(); // Here a beginning of a block { SqlCommand getCategories = new SqlCommand("select Title from Movie.Category where SourceId = @sourceId", sqlConnection, sqlTransaction); getCategories.Parameters.AddWithValue("@sourceId", sourceId); using (SqlDataReader categoriesReader = getCategories.ExecuteReader(System.Data.CommandBehavior.SingleResult)) { while (categoriesReader.Read()) { existingCategories.Add(categoriesReader["Title"].ToString()); } } } if (!existingCategories.Contains(newCategory)) { SqlCommand addCategory = new SqlCommand("insert into Movie.Category (SourceId, Title) values (@sourceId, @title)", sqlConnection, sqlTransaction); // Now try to make a mistake and write/copy-paste getCategories instead of addCategory. It will not compile. addCategory.Parameters.AddWithValue("@sourceId", sourceId); addCategory.Parameters.AddWithValue("@title", newCategory); addCategory.ExecuteNonQuery(); } </code></pre> <p>Now, StyleCop displays a warning every time a block follows an empty line. On the other hand, not putting an empty line would make the code much harder to understand.</p> <pre><code>// Something like: Collection&lt;string&gt; existingCategories = new Collection&lt;string&gt;(); { // Code here } // can be understood as (is it easy to notice that semicolon is missing?): Collection&lt;string&gt; existingCategories = new Collection&lt;string&gt;() { // Code here } </code></pre> <p>So,</p> <ol> <li><p>Is there <strong>something wrong</strong> in using braces to create blocks of code just for variable scope purposes?</p></li> <li><p>If it's all right, how to make it more readable without violating StyleCop rules?</p></li> </ol>
 

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