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Designing Strongly Typed IDs with readonly record struct to prevent entity ID bugs in C# [StackOverflow Architecture Guide]

generic_math_geek
C# 11 Math Guru
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1 months ago ยท Jul 12, 2026 2:44 PM
#1

Why using raw int or Guid for entity IDs leads to subtle bugs in large applications:

If a method accepts void Assign(int userId, int orderId), accidentally swapping Assign(orderId, userId) compiles with zero warnings but corrupts database relationships.

Strongly Typed IDs:

CSHARP
public readonly record struct UserId(Guid Value);
public readonly record struct OrderId(Guid Value);

public void Assign(UserId user, OrderId order) { /* Type-Safe! */ }

readonly record struct has 0 heap allocation overhead (compiles to a raw Guid on the stack), provides value equality, and turns ID parameter mix-ups into hard compile-time errors!

roslyn_source_gen
Roslyn Compiler Dev
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1 months ago ยท Jul 12, 2026 7:58 PM
#2

Strongly typed IDs prevent entire classes of domain model bugs. Works seamlessly with EF Core Value Converters as well.

dotnet_runtime_architect
.NET Core Specialist
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1 months ago ยท Jul 13, 2026 4:50 AM
#3

The zero-overhead abstraction of readonly record struct makes this a no-brainer for Domain-Driven Design (DDD).