Types Of Properties In C# Programming

Introduction

In C#, properties are a member that provides a flexible mechanism to read, write, or compute the value of a private field.

C# is one of the first languages that offers direct support of Properties. Properties look similar to a public variable on which we can do get() or set() operations.

Syntax

The following is the syntax of Properties.

// Define the Property Accessors
public <type> <Property Name>
{
    get
    {
        return <var>;
    }
    set
    {
        if (IsValid(value))
        {
            <var> = value;
        }
    }
}

In the syntax shown above.

1. The access modifier can be Private, Public, Protected or Internal.
2. The return type can be any valid C# data type, such as a string or integer.
3. The ”this” keyword shows that the object is for the current class.
4. The get() and set() operations of the syntax are known as accessors.

There are the following 4 types of Properties.

1. Read-Write Property
2. Read-Only Property
3. Static Property
4. Indexer Property

Read and write Property

Programmers allow you to access the internal data of a class in a less cumbersome manner. Earlier programmers were required to define two separate methods, one for assigning a value of a variable and the other for retrieving the value of a variable. When you create a property, the compiler automatically generates class methods to set() and get() the property value and makes calls to these methods automatically when a programmer uses the property .

Here is a simple program of a Read and Write Property.

Figure 1. Read and write property

Here is the code for a read-write property.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace Read_and_Write_Property
{
    class student
    {
        public string Myname = "";
        public int Myage = 0;
        // Declare a Name Property of type String
        public string Name
        {
            get
            {
                return Myname;
            }
            set
            {
                Myname = value;
            }
        }
        // Declare an Age Property of type int
        public int Age
        {
            get
            {
                return Myage;
            }
            set
            {
                Myage = value;
            }
        }
        public override string ToString()
        {
            return ("Name=" + Name + ", Age=" + Age);
        }
    }
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("This is Read and Write Property");
            // Create a new object for student class    
            student s = new student();
            Console.WriteLine("Student details:" + s);
            s.Name = "Nilesh";
            s.Age = 24;
            Console.WriteLine("Student details:" + s);
            // increment the age property
            s.Age += 1;
            Console.Write("Student details:" + s);
            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }
}

Output

Figure 2. Output for read and write property

Read-Only Property

A read-only Property has a get accessor but does not have any set() operation. This means that you can retrieve the value of a variable using the read-only property but you cannot assign a value to the variable.

Example

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    public class PropertyHolder
    {
        private int Myage = 0;

        public PropertyHolder(int PropVal)
        {
            Myage = PropVal;
        }
        public int age
        {
            get
            {
                return Myage;
            }
        }
    }
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            PropertyHolder p = new PropertyHolder(24);
            Console.WriteLine("My age is: " + p.age);
            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }
}

Output

Figure 3. Read-Only Output

Static Property

A static Property can be used to access only the static members of the class.

Example

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace Static_Property
{
    public class CounterClass
    {
        private static int number = 0;

        public CounterClass()
        {
            number++;
        }
        public static int NumberofObjects
        {
            get
            {
                return number;
            }

            set
            {
                number = value;
            }
        }
    }
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Number of Objects: {0}", CounterClass.NumberofObjects);
            CounterClass object1 = new CounterClass();
            Console.WriteLine("Number of Objects: {0}", CounterClass.NumberofObjects);
            CounterClass object2 = new CounterClass();
            Console.WriteLine("Number of Objects: {0}", CounterClass.NumberofObjects);
            CounterClass object3 = new CounterClass();
            Console.WriteLine("Number of Objects: {0}", CounterClass.NumberofObjects);
            Console.ReadKey();
        }
    }
}

Output

Figure 4. static Property Output

This is all about Properties. I hope you like it. In my next article, I'll tell you about Indexers.

Thank you for reading.