C# 7 Digit Separators

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The digit separator feature is also introduced in C# 7.0. You can separate the large number into small parts making your code more readable using the digit separator.

  • The underscore (_) is used as a digit separator.
  • When you use a digit separator in your code, they are ignored by the compiler.

Let's consider the following simple example without using digit separators.

long num1 = 1000000000000;
long num2 = 1000500000;

Console.WriteLine(num1);
Console.WriteLine(num2);

As you can that it is very difficult to read the exact value of num1 and num2 due to the large numerical literals. Now let's add the digit separators to the above example and see the readability.

long num1 = 1_000_000_000_000;
long num2 = 10_00_50_00_00;

Console.WriteLine(num1);
Console.WriteLine(num2);

As you can see, by adding the digit separator, you can have a great readability impact and no significant downside.

  • The digit separator can appear anywhere in the constant. The different groupings may make sense in different scenarios, and especially for different numeric bases.
  • Any sequence of digits may be separated by one or more underscores.
  • The _ is allowed in decimals as well as exponents.

You can use this separator with other numbers as well.

int bin = 0b1001__1010__0001__0100;
int hex = 0x1b_a0_44_fe;
int dec = 33_554_432;
double real = 1_000.111_1e-3;
ushort shortVal = 0b1011_1100_1011_0011;

Console.WriteLine(bin);
Console.WriteLine(hex);
Console.WriteLine(dec);
Console.WriteLine(real);
Console.WriteLine(shortVal);

Avoid Digit Separator

The digit separator should not be used in the following places.

  • At the start of any value. For example, _1000_0000
  • At the end of the value such as 1000_0000_
  • Before or after the decimal such as, 10_00_.03_33
  • Before or after the exponent character, e.g. 1.1e_1
  • Before or after the type specifier 10_f
  • Immediately after the 0x or 0b in binary and hexadecimal literals e.g. 0b_1001_1000


Got any C# 7 Question?