C# Automatic Properties

Question

I\'m a bit confused on the point of Automatic properties in C# e.g

public string Forename{ get; set; }

I get that you are saving code by no

Answer 1

Public data members are evil (in that the object doesn't control modification of it's own state - It becomes a global variable). Breaks encapsulation - a tenet of OOP.

Automatic properties are there to provide encapsulation and avoid drudgery of writing boiler plate code for simple properties.

public string ID { get; set;}

You can change automatic properties to non-automatic properties in the future (e.g. you have some validation in a setter for example)... and not break existing clients.

string m_ID;
public string ID
{
   get { return m_ID; }
   set 
   { 
     //validate value conforms to a certain pattern via a regex match
     m_ID = value;
   }
}

You cannot do the same with public data attributes. Changing a data attribute to a property will force existing clients to recompile before they can interact again.