Class initialization - Property vs Field

Question

I was wondering what's the best practice for class initialization .

One can write:

private myClass mc = new myClass();

Or:

private myClass mc { get; set; }

public Foo()
{
    mc = new myClass();
}

I always tend to use it as a field . Are there any downsides for using a class as a property ? I did some searching on google but none of the results gave me a good answer for this specific question.

Answer 1

If it's private, there's no significant benefit in making it a property. I'd just keep it as a field. I use properties as a way of communicating an API with other classes.

Answer 2

Your use of a property in the second example is unnecessary. You could write it as:

private myClass mc;

public Foo()
{
    mc = new myClass();
}

Answer 3

Properties are meant to be getters/setters, which means they provide a part of the mechanism for information hiding. Making them private doesn't do much, as all methods from the class can see private members.

Answer 4

I perefer the first way:

private myClass mc = new myClass();

because:

• private properties has no benefit.
• If you create another constructor, you duplicate the initialization code unless you create some Init method or call this(), which is not as clear as simply initialization the field.