Class initialization - Property vs Field

Question

I was wondering what's the best practice for class initialization.

One can write:

private myClass mc = new myClass();

Or:

private myClass mc { get; set; }

public Foo()
{
    mc = new myClass();
}

I always tend to use it as a field. Are there any downsides for using a class as a property ? I did some searching on google but none of the results gave me a good answer for this specific question.

possible duplicate of [Difference between Property and Field in C# 3.0+](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/653536/difference-between-property-and-field-in-c-sharp-3-0) — Kami, Nov 01 '13 at 11:13
A third option is that you can write `private myClass mc; public Foo() { mc = new myClass(); }` — dav_i, Nov 01 '13 at 11:23

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 01 '13 at 11:13

3

If it's private, there's no significant benefit in making it a property. I'd just keep it as a field. I use properties as a way of communicating an API with other classes.

answered Nov 01 '13 at 11:13

Jon Skeet

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I missed the fact that the property was private as I've never seen anyone do that before. There is definitely no benefits to private properties. – David Arno Nov 01 '13 at 11:16
@DavidArno I deliberately set them to private, because I wanted to know how `class initialization` should be done in a class itself. According to the answers, i'll just stick around with the `field way` :) – DeMama Nov 01 '13 at 11:24
@DeMama Good for you :) – David Arno Nov 01 '13 at 11:26
I'd make it a property if there was some logic, even internal to the class, which should be isolated to the property. For auto-implemented properties, however, I agree that there's really no tangible benefit. – David Nov 01 '13 at 12:11

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 11:20

0

Your use of a property in the second example is unnecessary. You could write it as:

private myClass mc;

public Foo()
{
    mc = new myClass();
}

answered Nov 01 '13 at 11:20

David Arno

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 11:23

0

Properties are meant to be getters/setters, which means they provide a part of the mechanism for information hiding. Making them private doesn't do much, as all methods from the class can see private members.

answered Nov 01 '13 at 11:23

Igor Ševo

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 01 '13 at 11:30

I perefer the first way:

private myClass mc = new myClass();

because:

private properties has no benefit.
If you create another constructor, you duplicate the initialization code unless you create some Init method or call this(), which is not as clear as simply initialization the field.

Class initialization - Property vs Field

4 Answers4