If you are a C# developer, you probably use properties a lot. Properties are a convenient way to expose data fields of a class or a struct, while encapsulating the logic for getting and setting their values. Properties can also provide validation, access control, notification, computation, caching, and other features that make your code more robust and maintainable.

However, writing properties can sometimes be tedious and repetitive. You may have to write a lot of boilerplate code for each property, especially if you want to implement some advanced features. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to simplify the creation of properties and reduce the amount of code you have to write?

That’s where .NET Property Builder comes in. .NET Property Builder is a library that helps you create properties with various features using fluent syntax and lambda expressions. With .NET Property Builder, you can write less code and focus on the logic of your properties.

In this article, you will learn about properties in C#, how they are defined and accessed, and what are the benefits of using them. You will also learn about .NET Property Builder, how it simplifies the creation of properties, and what features it provides. By the end of this article, you will be able to use .NET Property Builder to create powerful properties with minimal code.

Properties are members of a class or a struct that provide access to data fields. Properties behave like fields when they are accessed, but unlike fields, they have accessors that define the statements executed when a property is accessed or assigned.

Properties can have two types of accessors: get and set. The get accessor returns the value of the property, while the set accessor assigns a value to the property. The set accessor always has a single parameter named value, which represents the value being assigned to the property.

The benefits of using properties instead of fields are – Properties allow you to control the access level of the data fields. You can make a property public, while keeping the field private, to prevent direct manipulation of the field by other classes. – Properties allow you to add validation logic to the data fields. You can check the value being assigned to the property and throw an exception or perform some action if it is invalid. – Properties allow you to implement notification mechanisms when the data fields change. You can raise an event or call a method when the property value changes, which can be useful for data binding or updating the user interface. – Properties allow you to create computed or derived values based on other data fields. You can calculate the value of the property on the fly, without storing it in a separate field.

As you can see, properties are very useful and powerful features of C#. However, writing properties can sometimes be cumbersome and repetitive. Let’s see how we can write properties in C# using different syntax options.

The basic syntax of a property in C# is as follows:

// Define a property access-modifier type name {     get     {         // return the value of the property     }     set     {         // assign a value to the property     } } // Access a property object.name = value; // set the property value = object.name; // get the property 

For example, here is a simple property that represents the name of a person:

public class Person {     private string name; // private field     public string Name // public property     {         get         {             return name; // return the value of the field         }         set         {             name = value; // assign the value to the field         }     } } Person person = new Person(); person.Name = "Alice"; // set the property Console.WriteLine(person.Name); // get and print the property 

This is the most basic way to write a property, but it is also very verbose. You have to declare a private field to store the value of the property, and then write two accessors to get and set the value. This can quickly become tedious if you have many properties in your class.

Fortunately, C# provides some syntactic sugar to make writing properties easier and more concise. Let’s see some of them.

Auto properties are properties that do not have any logic in their accessors. They simply get and set the value of a hidden backing field that is automatically generated by the compiler. You do not have to declare or access this field yourself.

The syntax of an auto property is as follows:

// Define an auto property access-modifier type name { get; set; } // Access an auto property object.name = value; // set the property value = object.name; // get the property 

For example, here is how we can rewrite the previous example using an auto property:

public class Person {     public string Name { get; set; } // auto property } Person person = new Person(); person.Name = "Alice"; // set the property Console.WriteLine(person.Name); // get and print the property 

As you can see, this is much shorter and simpler than writing a full property. However, auto properties have some limitations. For example, you cannot add any validation or notification logic to them. You also cannot access or modify the backing field directly.

You can initialize an auto property with a default value when you declare it. This is useful when you want to assign a value to the property before creating an instance of the class or calling its constructor.

The syntax of initializing an auto property is as follows:

// Define and initialize an auto property access-modifier type name { get; set; } = value; // Access an auto property object.name = value; // set the property value = object.name; // get the property 

For example, here is how we can initialize an auto property with a default value:

public class Person {     public string Name { get; set; } = "Unknown"; // initialize with a default value } Person person = new Person(); Console.WriteLine(person.Name); // print "Unknown" person.Name = "Alice"; // set the property Console.WriteLine(person.Name); // print "Alice"