Question

It is okay to use this in code (in the mvc 3 context or any other context) :

protected String test { get; set; }

Would like to hear why it is and why it is not if you have any of those answers.

Thanks.

Answer 1

It is simply a convenience.

All it does is remove boiler plate code for you, since it really is equivalent to

private String _test;
protected String test{
 get{
  return _test;
 }
 set{
  _test = value;
 }
}

So, when that’s all it is, use magic get set.
When you need to do something more funky, then implement the getsetters.

For example, in MVC, I often want to use Enums for my properties, but it is not supported by CodeFirst. So, I do this:

[Column("Type")]
public byte DBType;
public MyCustomEnum Type{
 get{
  return (MyCustomEnum)DBType;
 }
 set{
  DBType = (byte)value;
 }
}

And this populates my database as expected.