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c#debuggingcompilationrelease
McArthor Lee
McArthor Lee

Reputation: 317

How to make compilation different between Debug against Release?

I'm a newbee to C#, and encounter a problem when compiling a C# project. It's about debug log in Debug and Release modes. I want the log function to be called in Debug mode, but not called in Release mode, taking performance into account. I know in C/C++, this is easy to be done:

// this is C/C++ sample, not C#
#ifdef DEBUG
#define DebugLog(CString,__VA_ARGS__) LogFunction(CString,__VA_ARGS__)
#else
#define DebugLog
#endif

In the above C/C++ code, the DebugLog() is compiled and called in Debug mode, but not compiled or called in Release mode, so the performance can be ensured.

Is there anyway in C# that works like the above C/C++ codes?

Upvotes: 16

Views: 17138

Answers (5)

Bala R
Bala R

Reputation: 108957

In C# you can do

#if DEBUG
                //debug-mode only snippet go here.
#endif

Here's the reference documentation for the #if directive.

Upvotes: 20

Yannick
Yannick

Reputation: 133

Other methodology, can include a "Conditional" attribute like

[Conditional("DEBUG")]
void DebugLog()
{
   // method code here
}

More informations can be found here in MSDN

Upvotes: 1

Terry
Terry

Reputation: 1

/// <summary>Function to Set Debug Flag to true if DEBUG is in Effect</summary>
/// <param name="theDebugFlag">output - true if DEBUG, unchanged if RELEASE</param>
[Conditional("DEBUG")]
static void QueryDebugStatus(ref Boolean theDebugFlag)
{
theDebugFlag = true;
}

Upvotes: 0

Hans Passant
Hans Passant

Reputation: 941455

The equivalent is the [Conditional] attribute on a method. Like this:

[Conditional("DEBUG")]
public static void DebugLog(string fmt, params object[] args) {
    // etc..
}

In the Release build (with DEBUG not defined), both the method and the calls to the method are removed by the compiler. Before you re-invent this wheel, be sure to review the Debug and Trace classes in the .NET framework, they already do this. And have lots of flexibility to redirect the debug/trace info.

Upvotes: 16

Andy White
Andy White

Reputation: 88355

You can do the same thing in C#. In the project properties, you can set a conditional compilation symbol like DEBUG. In fact, I think Visual Studio will do this by default when you create a project - it will add a DEBUG flag when the project is in Debug mode, and remove the flag when you switch to Release mode. This can be configured in the Project Properties->Build tab. You can also add your own flags for things like platform-specific code. The Pocket_PC flag was a famous one for doing old-school Windows Mobile development on the .NET Compact Framework.

With this, you can add the pre-processor directives like this:

#if DEBUG

//  debug code here

#endif

Upvotes: 4

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