Definition of a 'helper' method

Question

3.00/5 (2 votes)

See more:

When do we decide a method is a 'helper' method? - I'm looking for a bit of definition here.

For some time now I've seen applications and APIs with regions in the source called something like 'Helpers' or 'Helper Methods'. What makes a method a 'helper' method?

Yes, granted the method provides some functionality that 'helps' - but what about more solid technical definition? For me I've never seen any consistent pattern - eg should the method be static or void?

I often see all sorts of methods referred to as helper methods but there never seems to be any consistency in their adornments, access modifiers or functionality...

Many Thanks

Posted 14-Jun-13 5:57am

John Bracey

Add a Solution

3 solutions

Solution 3

It is apparently also called a delegation pattern. The Wikipedia article is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegation_pattern[^]

Posted 14-Jun-13 11:18am

Clifford Nelson

Solution 2

A nice description here "Helper Method"[^], however, I agree with Chris (Solution 1): probably everyone has his personal definition of 'helper method'.

Posted 14-Jun-13 7:05am

CPallini

Updated 14-Jun-13 7:07am

v2

Comments

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Jun-13 16:04pm

5ed. My 1 cent: it would be safe enough to say that "helper method" does not really need a definition, so there is no a definition. It does not present any separate entity technically or mathematically. It simply reflects some pretty reasonable element of culture when engineers communicate; it rather reflects semantics with fuzzy meaning and, in particular, helps to name things the way other developers could understand them faster.
—SA

CPallini 14-Jun-13 16:11pm

Wow, now that well deserves a 5, well said Sergey.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Jun-13 16:28pm

Thank you, Carlo.
—SA

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Chris Ross 2 · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-14T06:21:00

You've an interesting question, there!

I suspect you'll not find any universal definition of helper method, just 1001 different personal takes on the subject.

So, here's mine...

A helper method is a method that 'targets' or relates to some class (perhaps entirely) but for some reason is not implemented as part of that class. Typically, the reason would be that the class is implemented in an unmodifiable body of code (an in house or 3rd party library, the .Net framework, etc.) AND where the extra work cannot, or does not justify, implementing a subclass.

An example of a helper method I've created is one that take a string and sticks in spaces in front of every captial letter (except at the beginning of the string). Takes a property name, or database column name, and makes something moderately more acceptable for users to see.

* Does it belong in the class where I want to get the new text? No.

* Can I extend System.String? No.

What to do? Create a helper method.

.Net kindly introduced extension methods a couple of generations ago. I love them. I find that they allow me to segregate such methods away from the consuming code (so I'm not 'polluting' the code of the class where I need the behaviour); in addition, they show up in the intellisense for the extended class.

I make it a personal rule to make the class(es) that implement my extension methods internal. That way they do not become a public API that needs to be properly documented for other developers on the team to understand, if they need to consume the assembly in which they are implemented.