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I trying to understand why a non-nullable string initializes to null instead of an empty string. For example:
//Property of class foo
public string Address_Notes { get; set; }
//Create instance of foo
foo myFoo = new foo();
//Get value of Address_Notes
var notesValue = myFoo.Address_Notes; //Returns null
Am I crazy to think that a non-nullable string's value should default to String.Empty? Is there a standard way of forcing this behavior, other than a custom getter?
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A string is a reference type, it's always nullable. String is reference type - values are initialized to null by default. You can initialize strings in constructor to string.Empty, and it is best practice to do it, because: string.Empty means "value is empty" or "value does not exists".
In a nullable aware context: 1 A variable of a reference type T must be initialized with non-null, and may never be assigned a value that may be null. 2 A variable of a reference type T? may be initialized with null or assigned null, but is required to be checked against null before de-referencing. 3 A variable m of type T? ...
The variables notNull and nullable are both represented by the String type. Because the non-nullable and nullable types are both stored as the same type, there are several locations where using a nullable reference type isn't allowed. In general, a nullable reference type can't be used as a base class or implemented interface.
You can also declare nullable value types. Nullable reference types are available beginning with C# 8.0, in code that has opted in to a nullable aware context. Nullable reference types, the null static analysis warnings, and the null-forgiving operator are optional language features. All are turned off by default.
There is no such thing as a "non-nullable string".
String is a reference type, so its default value is indeed a null.
You could get around the issue by setting the value to String.Empty in the constructor for your class (foo).
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