What is the accessibility of the backing fields of auto-implemented properties?

Question

The backing fields are automatically private - am I right?

class Car
{
    public String Mark { get; set; }
    public String Model { get; set; }
}

Answer 1

Auto-implemented properties:

public String Mark { get; set; }
public String Model { get; set; }

When you declare a auto-implemented as shown in your example, the compiler creates a private, anonymous backing field that can only be accessed through the property's get and set accessors.

private string mark;
private string model;
public String Mark { 
   get
   {
   return mark;
   }
   set
   {
   mark = value;
   }
}
public String Model{ 
   get
   {
   return model;
   }
   set
   {
   model = value;
   }
}

Answer 2

In

class Car
{
    public string Mark { get; set; }
    string Model { get; set; }
}

• The class Car is internal.
• The property Mark is public.
• The property Model is private.

---

The comments seem to indicate that you are asking about the accessibility of the backing fields.

Both properties are Auto-Implemented Properties (C# Programming Guide) having a hidden, non-accessible backing field. The documentation for C# auto-implemented properties says:

When you declare a property [...], the compiler creates a private, anonymous backing field that can only be accessed through the property's get and set accessors.

This is different in VB where the backing field is accessible from within the class: Auto-Implemented Properties (Visual Basic) .

Also see: What are the default access modifiers in C#?