Question

Why are we able to write

public int RetInt
{
   get;set;
}

instead of

public int RetInt
{
   get{return someInt;}set{someInt=value;}
}

What is the difference between the two?

Answer 1

This feature is called Auto implemented properties and introduced with C# 3.0

In C# 3.0 and later, auto-implemented properties make
property-declaration more concise when no additional logic is required
in the property accessors. They also enable client code to create
objects. When you declare a property as shown in the following
example, the compiler creates a private, anonymous backing field
that can only be accessed through the property’s get and set
accessors.

class Customer
{
    // Auto-Impl Properties for trivial get and set 
    public double TotalPurchases { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int CustomerID { get; set; }

For your question

What is the difference between the two?

In your case, none. Since you are not doing anything while setting or retrieving the value, but suppose you have want to do some validation or want to perform other types of check then :

private int someInt;
public int RetInt
{
    get
    {
        if (someInt > 0)
            return someInt;
        else
            return -1;
    }
    set { someInt = value; } // same kind of check /validation can be done here
}

The above can’t be done with Auto implemented properties.

One other thing where you can see the difference is when initializing a custom class type property.

If you have list of MyClass
Then in case of Normal property, its backing field can be initialized/instantiated other than the constructor.

private List<MyClass> list = new List<MyClass>();
public List<MyClass> List
{
    get { return list; }
    set { list = value; }
}

In case of Auto implemented property,

public List<MyClass> SomeOtherList { get; set; }

You can only initialize SomeOtherList in constructor, you can’t do that at Field level.