remove some redundant variable assignments

src/NuGet.Clients/NuGet.PackageManagement.VisualStudio/Projects/ProjectJsonProjectProvider.cs

@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ public NuGetProject TryCreateNuGetProject(
                 // Treat projects with project.json as build integrated projects
                 // Search for projectName.project.json first, then project.json
                 // If the name cannot be determined, search only for project.json
-                string projectJsonPath = null;
+                string projectJsonPath;
                 if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(projectNameFromMSBuildPath))
                 {
                     projectJsonPath = Path.Combine(msbuildProjectFile.DirectoryName,

src/NuGet.Clients/NuGet.PackageManagement.VisualStudio/Utility/GetPackageReferenceUtility.cs

@@ -67,8 +67,6 @@ internal static PackageIdentity UpdateResolvedVersion(LibraryDependency projectL
         /// <param name="transitivePackages">Cached transitive package information</param>
         internal static IReadOnlyList<PackageIdentity> UpdateTransitiveDependencies(IList<LockFileTargetLibrary> libraries, Dictionary<string, ProjectInstalledPackage> installedPackages, Dictionary<string, ProjectInstalledPackage> transitivePackages)
         {
-            NuGetVersion resolvedVersion = default;
-
             var packageIdentities = new List<PackageIdentity>();
 
             // get the dependencies for this target framework
@@ -80,7 +78,7 @@ internal static IReadOnlyList<PackageIdentity> UpdateTransitiveDependencies(ILis
                     // don't add transitive packages if they are not packages
                     if (!installedPackages.ContainsKey(package.Name) && package.Type == LibraryType.Package.Value)
                     {
-                        resolvedVersion = package.Version ?? new NuGetVersion(0, 0, 0);
+                        NuGetVersion resolvedVersion = package.Version ?? new NuGetVersion(0, 0, 0);
 
                         var packageIdentity = new PackageIdentity(package.Name, resolvedVersion);
                         transitivePackages[package.Name] = new ProjectInstalledPackage(new VersionRange(package.Version), packageIdentity);

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Build.Tasks.Console/MSBuildStaticGraphRestore.cs

@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ internal static string GetBinaryLoggerParameters(IEnvironmentVariableReader envi
             }
 
             // Default parameters
-            return binaryLoggerParameters = "LogFile=nuget.binlog";
+            return "LogFile=nuget.binlog";
         }
 
         /// <summary>

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.CommandLine.XPlat/Commands/PackageReferenceCommands/AddPackageReferenceCommandRunner.cs

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public async Task<int> ExecuteCommand(PackageReferenceArgs packageReferenceArgs,
                 packageReferenceArgs.Logger.LogWarning(string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
                     Strings.Warn_AddPkgWithoutRestore));
 
-                VersionRange versionRange = default;
+                VersionRange versionRange;
                 if (packageReferenceArgs.NoVersion)
                 {
                     versionRange = packageReferenceArgs.Prerelease ?

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.CommandLine.XPlat/Utility/TableParser.cs

@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ internal static IEnumerable<FormattedCell> ToFormattedStringTable<T>(
                     var subsequentRow = new List<FormattedCell>();
                     for (var colIndex = 0; colIndex < valueSelectors.Length; colIndex++)
                     {
-                        var formattedDataCell = (FormattedCell)null;
+                        FormattedCell formattedDataCell;
                         if (columnQueues.TryGetValue(colIndex, out var thisColumnQueue)) // we have at least one remaining value for this column
                         {
                             formattedDataCell = thisColumnQueue.Dequeue();

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Commands/RestoreCommand/RestoreCommand.cs

@@ -490,8 +490,8 @@ private async Task<IEnumerable<RestoreTargetGraph>> GenerateRestoreGraphsAsync(T
             CacheFile cacheFile,
             CancellationToken token)
         {
-            string assetFilePath = null;
-            string cacheFilePath = null;
+            string assetFilePath;
+            string cacheFilePath;
             var msbuildOutputFiles = Enumerable.Empty<MSBuildOutputFile>();
 
             using (telemetry.StartIndependentInterval(CreateRestoreResultDuration))

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Commands/RestoreCommand/Utility/BuildAssetsUtils.cs

@@ -74,24 +74,21 @@ public static List<MSBuildOutputFile> GenerateMultiTargetFailureFiles(
             string propsPath,
             ProjectStyle restoreType)
         {
-            XDocument targetsXML = null;
             XDocument propsXML = null;
 
             // Create an error file for MSBuild to stop the build.
-            targetsXML = GenerateMultiTargetFrameworkWarning();
+            XDocument targetsXML = GenerateMultiTargetFrameworkWarning();
 
             if (restoreType == ProjectStyle.PackageReference)
             {
                 propsXML = GenerateEmptyImportsFile();
             }
 
-            var files = new List<MSBuildOutputFile>()
+            return new List<MSBuildOutputFile>()
             {
                 new MSBuildOutputFile(propsPath, propsXML),
                 new MSBuildOutputFile(targetsPath, targetsXML),
             };
-
-            return files;
         }
 
         private static string ReplacePathsWithMacros(string path, IEnvironmentVariableReader environmentVariableReader)

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Commands/RestoreCommand/Utility/MSBuildRestoreUtility.cs

@@ -969,20 +969,15 @@ private static bool IsType(this IMSBuildItem item, string type)
         private static NuGetVersion GetVersion(IMSBuildItem item)
         {
             var versionString = item.GetProperty("Version");
-            NuGetVersion version = null;
 
             if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(versionString))
             {
                 // Default to 1.0.0 if the property does not exist
-                version = new NuGetVersion(1, 0, 0);
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                // Snapshot versions are not allowed in .NETCore
-                version = NuGetVersion.Parse(versionString);
+                return new NuGetVersion(1, 0, 0);
             }
 
-            return version;
+            // Snapshot versions are not allowed in .NETCore
+            return NuGetVersion.Parse(versionString);
         }
 
         public static void Dump(IEnumerable<IMSBuildItem> items, ILogger log)

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.PackageManagement/PackagePreFetcher.cs

@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ public static void LogFetchMessages(
 
             foreach (var fetchResult in preFetchTasks)
             {
-                string message = null;
+                string message;
 
                 if (fetchResult.InPackagesFolder)
                 {

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.PackageManagement/Projects/MSBuildNuGetProject.cs

@@ -654,8 +654,7 @@ public async Task<IReadOnlyList<PackageSpec>> GetPackageSpecsAsync(DependencyGra
                 return (new List<PackageSpec>(), null);
             }
 
-            PackageSpec packageSpec = null;
-            if (!context.PackageSpecCache.TryGetValue(ProjectSystem.ProjectFileFullPath, out packageSpec))
+            if (!context.PackageSpecCache.TryGetValue(ProjectSystem.ProjectFileFullPath, out var packageSpec))
             {
                 packageSpec = new PackageSpec(new List<TargetFrameworkInformation>
                 {

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.PackageManagement/Utility/JsonConfigUtility.cs

@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@ public static class JsonConfigUtility
         /// </summary>
         public static IEnumerable<PackageDependency> GetDependencies(JObject json)
         {
-            JToken node = null;
-            if (json.TryGetValue(DEPENDENCIES_TAG, out node))
+            if (json.TryGetValue(DEPENDENCIES_TAG, out var node))
             {
                 foreach (var dependency in node)
                 {
@@ -96,8 +95,7 @@ public static void AddDependency(JObject json, PackageDependency dependency)
 
             JObject dependencySet = null;
 
-            JToken node = null;
-            if (json.TryGetValue(DEPENDENCIES_TAG, out node))
+            if (json.TryGetValue(DEPENDENCIES_TAG, out var node))
             {
                 dependencySet = node as JObject;
             }
@@ -121,8 +119,7 @@ public static void AddDependency(JObject json, PackageDependency dependency)
         /// </summary>
         public static void RemoveDependency(JObject json, string packageId)
         {
-            JToken node = null;
-            if (json.TryGetValue(DEPENDENCIES_TAG, out node))
+            if (json.TryGetValue(DEPENDENCIES_TAG, out var node))
             {
                 foreach (var dependency in node.ToArray())
                 {
@@ -142,8 +139,7 @@ public static IEnumerable<NuGetFramework> GetFrameworks(JObject json)
         {
             var results = new List<NuGetFramework>();
 
-            JToken node = null;
-            if (json.TryGetValue(FRAMEWORKS_TAG, out node))
+            if (json.TryGetValue(FRAMEWORKS_TAG, out var node))
             {
                 foreach (var frameworkNode in node.ToArray())
                 {
@@ -172,8 +168,7 @@ public static void AddFramework(JObject json, NuGetFramework framework)
 
             JObject frameworkSet = null;
 
-            JToken node = null;
-            if (json.TryGetValue(FRAMEWORKS_TAG, out node))
+            if (json.TryGetValue(FRAMEWORKS_TAG, out var node))
             {
                 frameworkSet = node as JObject;
             }

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.PackageManagement/Utility/StreamUtility.cs

@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ public static bool ContentEquals(Stream stream, Stream otherStream)
         public static bool IsBinary(Stream stream)
         {
             // Quick and dirty trick to check if a stream represents binary content.
-            // We read the first 30 bytes. If there's a character 0 in those bytes, 
-            // we assume this is a binary file. 
+            // We read the first 30 bytes. If there's a character 0 in those bytes,
+            // we assume this is a binary file.
             var a = new byte[30];
             var bytesRead = stream.Read(a, 0, 30);
             var byteZeroIndex = Array.FindIndex(a, 0, bytesRead, d => d == 0);
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ private static bool CompareBinary(Stream stream, Stream otherStream)
             var buffer = new byte[4 * 1024];
             var otherBuffer = new byte[4 * 1024];
 
-            var bytesRead = 0;
+            int bytesRead;
             do
             {
                 bytesRead = stream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Packaging/PackagesConfigReader.cs

@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ public IEnumerable<PackageReference> GetPackages()
         /// <summary>
         /// Reads all package node entries in the config.
         /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="allowDuplicatePackageIds">If True validation will be performed to ensure that 
+        /// <param name="allowDuplicatePackageIds">If True validation will be performed to ensure that
         /// only one entry exists for each unique package id.</param>
         public IEnumerable<PackageReference> GetPackages(bool allowDuplicatePackageIds)
         {
@@ -151,8 +151,7 @@ public IEnumerable<PackageReference> GetPackages(bool allowDuplicatePackageIds)
                         Strings.ErrorNullOrEmptyPackageId));
                 }
 
-                string version = null;
-                if (!PackagesConfig.TryGetAttribute(package, PackagesConfig.VersionAttributeName, out version)
+                if (!PackagesConfig.TryGetAttribute(package, PackagesConfig.VersionAttributeName, out var version)
                     || String.IsNullOrEmpty(version))
                 {
                     throw new PackagesConfigReaderException(string.Format(
@@ -162,8 +161,7 @@ public IEnumerable<PackageReference> GetPackages(bool allowDuplicatePackageIds)
                        version));
                 }
 
-                NuGetVersion semver = null;
-                if (!NuGetVersion.TryParse(version, out semver))
+                if (!NuGetVersion.TryParse(version, out var semver))
                 {
                     throw new PackagesConfigReaderException(string.Format(
                        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
@@ -172,9 +170,8 @@ public IEnumerable<PackageReference> GetPackages(bool allowDuplicatePackageIds)
                        version));
                 }
 
-                string attributeValue = null;
                 VersionRange allowedVersions = null;
-                if (PackagesConfig.TryGetAttribute(package, PackagesConfig.allowedVersionsAttributeName, out attributeValue))
+                if (PackagesConfig.TryGetAttribute(package, PackagesConfig.allowedVersionsAttributeName, out var attributeValue))
                 {
                     if (!VersionRange.TryParse(attributeValue, out allowedVersions))
                     {

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Packaging/Signing/Archive/ReadOnlyBufferedStream.cs

@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ private void FillBuffer()
             _stream.Position = _bufferStartPosition;
 
             var totalBytesRead = 0;
-            var bytesRead = 0;
+            int bytesRead;
             var offset = 0;
             var count = _buffer.Length;
 

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Packaging/Signing/Timestamp/Rfc3161TimestampRequestFactory.cs

@@ -23,26 +23,23 @@ public static IRfc3161TimestampRequest Create(
                 throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(messageHash));
             }
 
-            IRfc3161TimestampRequest iRfc3161TimestampRequest = null;
 #if IS_DESKTOP
-            iRfc3161TimestampRequest = new Rfc3161TimestampRequestNet472Wrapper(
+            return new Rfc3161TimestampRequestNet472Wrapper(
                 messageHash,
                 hashAlgorithm,
                 requestedPolicyId,
                 nonce,
                 requestSignerCertificates,
                 extensions);
 #else
-            iRfc3161TimestampRequest = new Rfc3161TimestampRequestNetstandard21Wrapper(
+            return new Rfc3161TimestampRequestNetstandard21Wrapper(
                 messageHash,
                 hashAlgorithm,
                 requestedPolicyId,
                 nonce,
                 requestSignerCertificates,
                 extensions);
 #endif
-            return iRfc3161TimestampRequest;
-
         }
     }
 }

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Packaging/Signing/Verification/PackageSignatureVerifier.cs

@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ public PackageSignatureVerifier(IEnumerable<ISignatureVerificationProvider> veri
                 throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(settings));
             }
 
-            var valid = false;
             var trustResults = new List<PackageVerificationResult>();
 
             var packageSigningTelemetryEvent = new PackageSigningTelemetryEvent();
             using (var telemetry = TelemetryActivity.Create(parentId, packageSigningTelemetryEvent))
             {
                 var isSigned = await package.IsSignedAsync(token);
+                bool valid;
                 if (isSigned)
                 {
                     try

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.ProjectModel/JsonPackageSpecReader.cs

@@ -1965,7 +1965,7 @@ private static void ReadTargetFrameworks(PackageSpec packageSpec, JsonTextReader
         [Obsolete]
         private static void AddTargetFramework(PackageSpec packageSpec, NuGetFramework frameworkName, NuGetFramework secondaryFramework, TargetFrameworkInformation targetFrameworkInformation)
         {
-            NuGetFramework updatedFramework = frameworkName;
+            NuGetFramework updatedFramework;
 
             if (targetFrameworkInformation.Imports.Length > 0)
             {

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.ProjectModel/ProjectLockFile/PackagesLockFileUtilities.cs

@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ public static LockFileValidationResult IsLockFileValid(DependencyGraphSpec dgSpe
 
                                 if (p2pSpec != null)
                                 {
-                                    TargetFrameworkInformation p2pSpecTargetFrameworkInformation = default;
+                                    TargetFrameworkInformation p2pSpecTargetFrameworkInformation;
                                     if (p2pSpec.RestoreMetadata.ProjectStyle == ProjectStyle.PackagesConfig || p2pSpec.RestoreMetadata.ProjectStyle == ProjectStyle.Unknown)
                                     {
                                         // Skip compat check and dependency check for non PR projects.
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ public static LockFileValidationResult IsLockFileValid(DependencyGraphSpec dgSpe
 
                                             if (hasChanged)
                                             {
-                                                // P2P transitive package dependencies have changed                                            
+                                                // P2P transitive package dependencies have changed
                                                 invalidReasons.Add(message);
                                             }
 

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Protocol/LegacyFeed/ODataServiceDocumentResourceV2Provider.cs

@@ -33,14 +33,13 @@ public ODataServiceDocumentResourceV2Provider()
         public override async Task<Tuple<bool, INuGetResource>> TryCreate(SourceRepository source, CancellationToken token)
         {
             ODataServiceDocumentResourceV2 serviceDocument = null;
-            ODataServiceDocumentCacheInfo cacheInfo = null;
             var url = source.PackageSource.Source;
 
             var utcNow = DateTime.UtcNow;
             var entryValidCutoff = utcNow.Subtract(MaxCacheDuration);
 
             // check the cache before downloading the file
-            if (!_cache.TryGetValue(url, out cacheInfo) || entryValidCutoff > cacheInfo.CachedTime)
+            if (!_cache.TryGetValue(url, out var cacheInfo) || entryValidCutoff > cacheInfo.CachedTime)
             {
                 // Track if the semaphore needs to be released
                 var release = false;

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Protocol/PackagesFolder/LocalPackageFileCache.cs

@@ -177,24 +177,16 @@ private static bool IsAllowedLibraryFile(string path)
         /// </summary>
         private static NuspecReader GetNuspec(string manifestPath, string expandedPath)
         {
-            NuspecReader nuspec = null;
-
             // Verify that the nuspec has the correct name before opening it
             if (File.Exists(manifestPath))
             {
-                nuspec = new NuspecReader(File.OpenRead(manifestPath));
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                // Scan the folder for the nuspec
-                using (var folderReader = new PackageFolderReader(expandedPath))
-                {
-                    // This will throw if the nuspec is not found
-                    nuspec = new NuspecReader(folderReader.GetNuspec());
-                }
+                return new NuspecReader(File.OpenRead(manifestPath));
             }
 
-            return nuspec;
+            // Scan the folder for the nuspec
+            using var folderReader = new PackageFolderReader(expandedPath);
+            // This will throw if the nuspec is not found
+            return new NuspecReader(folderReader.GetNuspec());
         }
 
         /// <summary>

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Protocol/PackagesFolder/NuGetv3LocalRepositoryUtility.cs

@@ -16,13 +16,11 @@ public static LocalPackageSourceInfo GetPackage(
             string id,
             NuGetVersion version)
         {
-            LocalPackageInfo package = null;
-
             for (var i = 0; i < repositories.Count; i++)
             {
                 var repository = repositories[i];
 
-                package = repository.FindPackage(id, version);
+                LocalPackageInfo package = repository.FindPackage(id, version);
 
                 if (package != null)
                 {

src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Protocol/Plugins/RequestHandlers/GetCredentialsRequestHandler.cs

@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ public async Task HandleResponseAsync(
             var requestPayload = MessageUtilities.DeserializePayload<GetCredentialsRequest>(request);
             var packageSource = GetPackageSource(requestPayload.PackageSourceRepository);
 
-            GetCredentialsResponse responsePayload = null;
+            GetCredentialsResponse responsePayload;
 
             if (packageSource.IsHttp &&
                 string.Equals(