Is it possible to initialize a property at the point of declaration

Question

Imagine you have a field _items in a class. You can initialize it at the point of declaration:

class C
{
  IList<string> _items=new List<string>();
}

Now I want to convert this field to an auto generated property, but the initialization is now invalid:

class C
{
  public IList<string> Items=new List<string>(); {get; set;} // Invalid
}

So, I have to do:

class C
{
  public IList<string> Items {get; set;}

  public C
  {
    Items=new List<string>();
  }
}

But this is not nearly as convenient as initializing fields at the point of declaration. Is there a better way to do this, without having to (needlessly) back this property with a private (initialized at the point of declaration) field, for example.

Thanks

Answer 1

No, automatic properties don't allow you to set an initial value.

It's annoying, but such is life. (It's annoying that they can't be readonly, too. But that's a rant for another day.)

EDIT: Both readonly automatically implemented properties and specifying an initial value are slated to be in C# 6.

Answer 2

In c#6 you can write something like this:

class C
{
    public IList<string> Items {get; set;} = new List<string>();
}