C# Automatic properties to wrap private fields?

Question

Can I encapsulate a private field through an automatic property in C#? When i use C# properties i surely can encapsulate private fields like.

private string owner;
public string Owner
{
  get { return owner; }
  set { owner=value;}
}

What happens when i use an automatic property?

public string Owner { get; set; }

That way I only interact with the property itself, right? Is there any way to use an automatic property to encapsulate a private field? How does it work?

Answer 1

Is there any way to use an automatic property to encapsulate a private field?

Yes; that is exactly what an automatically implemented property is. Simply: the compiler declares the field for you - you never see the field directly. Perhaps the real question here should be:

If I use an automatically implemented property, can I access the underlying field directly?

To which the answer is: no; just access the property instead. After JIT inlining, you'll never know the difference anyway.