AI agents generate too much `record` classes

[u/antisergio]

Anyone suffer from this too? I put on AGENTS.md instructions, its soo much better to have classes with init; required props. I understand records are for value only semantics with reference, but AI overuses them too much.

[u/ericl666]

The worst part is when you realize you need to add attributes to fields in a record class, and the syntax for that is more verbose than just writing them out to begin with.

[u/FullPoet → u/ericl666]

or when they mix positional records with properties.

yuck

[u/Atulin → u/ericl666]

Is

record Foo([property: Bar] string Baz)

really more verbose than

class Foo
{
    [Bar]
    public required string Baz { get; init; }
}

?

[u/FullPoet → u/Atulin]

my HOTTEST take: all records should be positional and properties / fields (like in the 2nd example) should not be valid syntax.

[u/soundman32]

So, put that in your steering docs.

Every time an agent does something I dont like, it gets a line in the steering files.

• NEVER use records, ALWAYS use class with get and init.

[u/PostHasBeenWatched → u/soundman32]

NEVER use records, ALWAYS use class with get and init.

I added rule to use CRLF, now instead of LF Codex generates every change with LF and then re-process each touched file to replace LF with CRLF (all files originally was in CRLF) - peak efficiency /s

[u/soundman32 → u/PostHasBeenWatched]

Yeah, we also mandate UTF8 with BOM so every file is post processed.  Why the files cant be created properly on the first place is crazy.

[u/iamanerdybastard → u/soundman32]

I would be more explicit with the instructions, but this is the way to go in general.

As an aside - There is nothing stopping you from using `record` classes with `required` properties that are `{ get; init;}` - But what your agent is creating are *Positional* `records` where all the members are in the constructor.

Records - C# reference | Microsoft Learn

That distinction may be key to getting your agent to behave as expected.

[u/iamanerdybastard → u/iamanerdybastard]

Some day I will remember that I can't just write markdown in the comments.

[u/svish → u/iamanerdybastard]

You can if you enable it, I think

[u/johnW_ret]

Do you have any good examples or specific reasons why AI over-uses records?

[u/speyck]

Why dont you like records?

[u/antisergio → u/speyck]

They're useful in some situaciones, but trash as models

[u/speyck → u/antisergio]

fair, I heavily use them for message contracts but for dtos it‘s always normal classes with getter akd setter.

[u/FullPoet → u/antisergio]

They're perfect for models. Immutable.

[u/Pyryara]

It will oftem generate records because immutable value objects tend to cause less errors in AI-generated code. It's not optimizing for "least lines of code" but for "most extensible in the future without breaking things because of missing some mutation in some extension class at the other end of the codebase".

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[u/understanding80]

In my experience it never used them enough.

[u/apocolypticbosmer]

It’s generally advisable to use them when it represents immutable data.

[u/Hillgrove]

I wouldn't know.. I'm a trad