What is the Difference Between Field and Property in C#?

The main difference between a field and a property in C# lies in their accessibility and encapsulation.

• Field: A field is a variable of any type that is declared directly within a class. It can be used to define the characteristics of an object or a class. Fields are typically declared private to prevent direct access from other classes or instances.
• Property: A property is a member of a class that provides a flexible mechanism to read, write, or compute the value of a private field. It acts as an abstraction layer, allowing you to change the underlying field while not affecting the public class. Properties usually have getter and setter methods that control the access to the underlying field.

In summary, fields are ordinary member variables, while properties are an abstraction to get and set their values. It is recommended to use properties instead of direct field access, as properties provide better encapsulation and maintainability.

Comparative Table: Field vs Property in C#

The main differences between fields and properties in C# are accessibility, validation, and syntax. Here's a table summarizing the differences:

In summary, fields are simple class variables used to store data, while properties provide a more controlled and secure way to access and modify the values of private fields. Properties can have getter and setter methods to perform additional actions or validations when getting or setting the field value.