C# Properties

Properties

• A property is a member that provides a flexible mechanism to read, write, or compute the value of a private field.
• Properties can be read-write, read-only, or write-only.
• The set accessor takes a single implicit parameter named value but does not return any value.
• Example: public int Age { set { age = value; } get { return age; }

Read-only and Write-Only Properties

• get or set can be omitted to create a read-only or write-only property.
• Example: public long Balance { get { return balance; } }

Benefits of Properties

• Allow read-only and write-only fields.
• Can validate a field when it is accessed.
• Can substitute for fields in interfaces.

Static Members

• Static members are accessed by the class name, not the instance name.
• Non-static class should also define a static constructor if the class contains static members.

Static Constructors

• A static constructor is a special constructor that gets called before the first object of the class is created.
• It is used to initialize any static data, or to perform a particular action that needs performed once only.
• Rules for static constructors:
  • A class can have only one static constructor (no constructor overloading)
  • Static constructor can not have any parameter
  • Static constructor can not have any access specifier
• Example: static class T { static int id; static T() { id = 0; } }

Static Constructor in Non-Static Class

• The compiler will provide the default parameterless constructor.
• A static constructor needs its class’ fields and properties to be static also to be able to initialize them.

Readonly Fields

• The readonly keyword is a modifier that can be used on fields.
• When a field declaration includes a readonly modifier, assignments to the fields introduced by the declaration can only occur as part of the declaration or in a constructor in the same class.

Static Fields

• Static fields are shared by all members of a class and are independent of any instances.
• Declare the field static to make it a static field.
• Non-static field is called an instance field.
• Example: public static double PI = 3.14159265358979;

Static Methods

• Static methods are similar to functions in a procedural language.
• Static methods don’t need any data from the class and operate on values passed as arguments.
• Method parameters/variables can’t be static.
• Example: public static double Sqrt(double d) { ... }

Understanding C# properties, get and set accessors, and their usage in programming. Learn about read-only and write-only properties in C#.