Question

Possible Duplicate:
C# member variable initialization; best practice?

Is there any benefit to this:

public class RemotingEngine
{
    uint m_currentValueId;
    object m_lock;

    public RemotingEngine()
    {
        m_currentValueId = 0;
        m_lock = new object();
    }

vs. this:

public class RemotingEngine
{
    uint m_currentValueId = 0;
    object m_lock = new object();

I have been avoiding the second one just because it feels ‘dirty’. It is obviously less typing so that is appealing to me.

Answer 1

It can make a difference in an inheritance situation. See this link on the object initialization order:
http://www.csharp411.com/c-object-initialization/

1. Derived static fields
2. Derived static constructor
3. Derived instance fields
4. Base static fields
5. Base static constructor
6. Base instance fields
7. Base instance constructor
8. Derived instance constructor

So if this is a derived class, the entire base object is initialized between when your derived field is initialized and when your constructor runs.