Why is it better to call the ResourceManager class as opposed to loading resources directly by name?

Question

I was working on localizing a large project, and I was doing that by creating a large resource file manually, and calling each string by name in the code. Instead of calling the ResourceManager and using GetString (for dialog boxes, etc), I was simply replacing each string by Resources.ClassName_MethodName_StringName.

I have a feeling I'm supposed to be using the ResourceManager, but I want to understand why it's better before I change all of my code to use it.

Answer 1

Well, there's no reason to use the ResourceManager directly (some exceptions to that will apply), because if you use generated code from the resx-Files all it does is the following:

public static string MyResourceName {
    get {
        return ResourceManager.GetString("MyResourceName", resourceCulture);
    }
}

This is great, since you get Compile-Time validation of your resource-names for free!

Answer 2

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/uploadfile/prvn_131971/chapter-i-resources-and-localization/

Internally, the generated class uses an instance of the ResourceManager class, which is defined in the System.Resources namespace. The instance of this class is accessible through the generated class's ResourceManager property. Internally, the property procedures for accessing the embedded resources themselves are just wrappers around calls of one of the GetXxx methods (that is, GetString or GetStream) of this ResourceManager instance. For example, the resource that is accessible through the generated property procedure Resources.MyResourceStrings.

So calling resources directly by name you're using YourResources.ResourceManager.GetString() method anyway.