Dealing with .NET IDisposable objects

Question

I work in C#, and I\'ve been pretty lax about using using blocks to declare objects that implement IDisposable, which you\'re apparently always suppose

Answer 1

FxCop might help (although it didn't spot a test I just fired at it); but yes: you are meant to check. IDisposable is simply such an important part of the system that you need to get into this habit. Using intellisense to look for .D is a good start (though not perfect).

However, it doesn't take long to familiarize yourself with types that need disposal; generally anything involving anything external (connection, file, database), for example.

ReSharper does the job too, offering a "put into using construct" option. It doesn't offer it as an error, though...

Of course, if you are unsure - try using it: the compiler will laugh mockingly at you if you are being paranoid:

using (int i = 5) {}

Error   1   'int': type used in a using statement must be implicitly convertible to 'System.IDisposable'