Environment.NewLine. A newline on Windows equals "\r\n." To add newlines in a C# string, there are a couple options—and the best option may depend on your program.
Newline versions. There is a constant from the base class library and the actual string literal. We review these newline options.
Platform example. In 2021, we can run "dotnet" programs through the command-line on Linux. With this platform, a NewLine is just 1 character, not 2 like on Windows.
C# program that tests NewLine
using System;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Run on Linux.
var result = Environment.NewLine.Length;
Console.WriteLine(result);
}
}
1
Concat example. Here we need to create a string with a line break in the middle of it, which will form a 2-line string. We will use the Environment.NewLine constant for this.
Note NewLine is defined by .NET and could vary by platform. But it is unlikely to ever equal a different value.
C# program that uses Environment.NewLine
using System;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Use string concat to combine two literals with the newline constant.
string s = "First line" + Environment.NewLine + "Second line";
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
}
First line
Second line
Literal example. You do not need to use Environment.NewLine as in the first example. You can use the "\r\n" constant directly—this may be a better choice.
Note This constant changes the IL generated. It is effective on Windows platforms and is (in practical aspects) the same.
C# program that uses newline constant
using System;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Concat literals.
string s = "One line" + "\r\n" + "Another line";
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
}
One line
Another line
Implementation. Environment.NewLine is a constant property in .NET. And it could be tied to the current executing environment or platform.
Notes, IL. The above IL is generated when you use NewLine. The "get_" part indicates that the value is fetched from a property. This is inlined so has no performance penalty.
Note It is possible that a new character set could have another constant as a line break.
A summary. We used the Environment.NewLine constant in the C# language. Some developers find the Environment.NewLine constant has more clarity in their code.
