C# - auto-implemented events

Question

In C# there are auto-implemented properties...

public int SomeValue { get; set; }

But why aren't there auto-implemented events?

public event EventHandler<SomeEventArgs> SomethingHappened { add; remove; }

Answer 1

Events are "auto-events" by default: when you write

public event EventHandler<SomeEventArgs> SomethingHappened;

you get the default behavior for both add and remove .

Note that C# designers could not use the same syntax for auto-properties because it would collide with field declarations. In addition, they needed to supply syntax for letting you define visibility of get and set separately, so they invented the { get ; set; } { get ; set; } { get ; set; } syntax.