C# Class constructor default value question

Question

I have the following class:

public class Topic
    {
        public string Topic { get; set; }
        public string Description { get; set; }
        public int Count { get; set; }
    }

I would like to have the Count always set to zero when the class is created with the following:

var abc = new Topic {
  Topic = "test1",
  Description = "description1"
}

I am a bit confused with constructor. Is this possible or do I need to specify Topic, Description and Count when I create abc?

Answer 1

The default value of an int is 0.

All value types have default values as they can't be null.

See Initializing Value Types on this MSDN page.

Answer 2

You have a few different options.

1) int defaults to zero so it will be zero if you dont initialize it.

2) you can use a constructor

public Topic(){ Count = 0;}

3) You can use a backing field instead of auto-property and initialize that to zero

 private int _count = 0;
 public int Count {
    get  {return _count}
    set {_count = value; }
 }