default value for a static property

Question

I like c#, but why can I do :

public static bool Initialized { private set; get; }

or this :

public static bool Initialized         


        

Answer 1

The two blocks of code you have mentioned are two different things.

The first block is an auto implemented property defination. This is syntactic sugar for a full property defination which looks like this:

private static bool _initialized;
public static bool Initialized
{
    private set
    {
        _initialized = value;
    }
    get
    {
        return _initialized;
    }
}

Your second block of code is a static member definition. If you look at the expansion I have given above, you'll notice that it includes a private static member definition. If you want to provide an initial value you can do it here:

private static bool _initialized = false;
public static bool Initialized
{
    private set
    {
        _initialized = value;
    }
    get
    {
        return _initialized;
    }
}

The inline property definition you are using was designed just to make code a bit shorter in the most common case. If you want to do anything else, you can use the full form of the property code.

Alternatively, you can go down a completely different route and use a static constructor. (See Corey's answer)