Question

Possible Duplicate:
C#: Public Fields versus Automatic Properties

Duplicate? I think not:
This question is not the same as “Why
use properties instead of public
field”. A property with a specified
getter and setter is far different
than a public field. My question was,
is a property WITHOUT a getter and
setter, any different.

With the somewhat recent ability to have empty getters and setters, what is the benefit of using them instead of just declaring a public member variable?

Example:

public string MyProperty
{
    get;
    set;
}

versus:

public string MyProperty;

Answer 1

One word: inheritance.

Properties are inheritable while fields are not. You can use fields in an inherited class, but not alter their behavior by making them virtual.

Like so:

public class Foo {
  public virtual int MyField = 1; // Nope, this can't

  public virtual int Bar {get; set; }
}

public class MyDerive : Foo {
  public override MyField; // Nope, this can't

  public override int Bar {
    get {
      //do something;
    }
    set; }
}

Edit: Besides the fact of inheritance, the points pointed out in the other answers (like visibility) are also a huge benefit of properties over fields.