Is there a shorthand way to return values that might be null?

Question

How can I write a shorthand of the following scenario?

get {     if (_rows == null)     {         _rows = new List<Row>();     }      return _rows; } 

Answer 1

Using null-coalescing operator ( ?? ):

get  {       _rows = _rows ?? new List<Row>();       return _rows;  } 

OR (less readable):

get { return _rows ?? (_rows = new List<Row>()); } 

The ?? operator is called the null-coalescing operator. It returns the left-hand operand if the operand is not null; otherwise it returns the right hand operand.