Guard Classes: Bulletproof your C# Applications

Yes, not many people actually know about those.

Alex Maher
3 min readNov 14, 2023

Understanding Guard Classes in C#

Ever had that “Uh-oh” moment in programming when you realize your method is processing something it shouldn’t?

That’s where guard classes in C# come to the rescue.

They’re like the little checks we do in our daily lives, like glancing at our coffee cup to make sure it’s not too full before we start walking.

Ok let’s dive in!

The Role of Guard Classes

  1. Error Prevention: Guard classes act as a first line of defense, ensuring that only valid data passes through. They’re like the filters that catch the debris before it clogs up the system.
  2. Cleaner Code: By outsourcing validation logic to guard classes, your main code stays clean and focused on its primary purpose.
  3. Reusability: Once you’ve crafted a guard class, it can be reused across different parts of your application, promoting consistency and saving time.

Implementing a Basic Guard Class

Let’s look at a simple example. Imagine you have a method that processes user data. The catch is, you…

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Alex Maher

.NET C# dev with 10+ yrs exp, self-taught & passionate web developer. Sharing tips & experiences in C# and web dev.