Preparing your code to be code-generated

[This was originally posted at http://timstall.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/preparing_your_code_to_be_codegenerated.htm]

Sometimes you're not sure if something should be code-generated. If you do end up code-generating it in the future, there are several guidelines you can follow to make your life easier:

• Physically place the code in separate files. One of the hardest things to do with code-gen is to merge generated and custom code. By isolated the potential code in its own file, you'll spare yourself this pain.
• Standardize and simplify your code. For example, if you prefix all variables with Hungarian notation, your code-generator would need to do extra work to determine what that prefix is.
• Refactor as much as possible first. The less unique code you have, the easier it will be. there's also a good balance between code-generation and refactoring.
• Document the rules. If you're writing code based off a set of rules, document those rules - they'll come in handy as you try to generate the edge cases.