Using var outside of a method

Question

I wanted to use the var keyword to declare a field in my class however var only seems to work inside methods.

The code I have looks like:

Answer 1

From the C# reference

• Beginning in Visual C# 3.0, variables that are declared at method scope can have an implicit type var.

Also from The C# Programming Reference

• var can only be used when a local variable is declared and initialized in the same statement; the variable cannot be initialized to null, or to a method group or an anonymous function.
• var cannot be used on fields at class scope.

It just isn't intended for the usage you have in mind.

It's primary aim is to allow the support of anonymous types in your code, with the added advantage of allowing a nice terse way of specifying local variables.