How to write a getter and setter for a Dictionary?

Question

How do you define a getter and setter for complex data types such as a dictionary?

public Dictionary Users
{
    get
    {
        retu         


        

Answer 1

Use an indexer property (MSDN):

public class YourClass
{
    private readonly IDictionary _yourDictionary = new Dictionary();

    public string this[string key]
    {
        // returns value if exists
        get { return _yourDictionary[key]; }

        // updates if exists, adds if doesn't exist
        set { _yourDictionary[key] = value; }
    }
}

Then use like:

var test = new YourClass();
test["Item1"] = "Value1";