C# Get Set vs Without Get Set [duplicate]

Question

I have looked at at least 10 SO questions on get/set but cannot find mine. So I hope this is not a duplicate.

public class myint
{
    public int value{get;set;}
}

vs

public class myint
{
    public int value;
}

The above 2 codes look the same to me. If I want to use the myint class, I just write the code below and it can run on either class.

myint A;
A.value=10;

So what is the get/set use for?

Answer 1

You're asking what the difference is between using a public instance variable vs. getter/setter properties I assume.

Properties allow you to further encapsulate logic around getting or setting a variable, for example adding simple validation logic. You could throw an exception if someone sets your value to less than zero for example. You could also add further logic in the getter/setter to for example synchronize a specific field.

A few other differences:

• Properties can be used for data binding easily in most .NET UI frameworks.
• Reflection works differently.
• Differing access levels for get/set vs. for example your instance variable you can choose between readonly, private, protected, static, etc. as a whole.
• There is more overhead accessing a property. This is usually unimportant in most use cases other than games and highly performance sensitive situations.

Answer 2

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/x9fsa0sw.aspx

A property is a member that provides a flexible mechanism to read, write, or compute the value of a private field. Properties can be used as if they are public data members, but they are actually special methods called accessors. This enables data to be accessed easily and still helps promote the safety and flexibility of methods.

Here are few things off the top of my head that differentiate a public {get;set;} vs a public member variable:

1. Properties are needed for data binding.
2. get and set can have different accessors (e.g. public int Value {get; protected set;}
3. get;set; can be part of a interface e.g. interface IHasValueGetter { public int Value {get;}}

What is the difference between a Field and a Property in C#?