Question

Possible Duplicate:
Within the Containing Class, Use Property or Field?

Take a look at the following property:

private string _name;
public string Name 
{  
    get
    {
        return _name;
    }
    set 
    {
        _name = value 
    }
}

Let’s say I need access to the name property and I’m in a method within the same class that this property is declared, should I use this.Name or this._name? Is it better practice or at least cleaner to use the Public member?

Answer 1

You could simplify this code by using auto properties:

public string Name { get; set; }

Now you could use the Name property from within the method.

Backing fields are used when you have some more complex logic in your getter/setter. Then depending on whether you need to access the field or go through the logic in the getter/setter you would use the field or the property.