C# 0 The Complete Reference

get

 and 

set

 must be specified in all cases. However, you can approximate the 

same effect by declaring either 

get

 or 

set

 as 

private

, as explained in “Use Access Modifiers 

with Accessors” later in this chapter.

Although auto-implemented properties offer convenience, their use is limited to those 

cases in which you do not need control over the getting or setting of the backing field. 

Remember, you cannot access the backing field directly. This means that there is no way 

to constrain the value an auto-implemented property can have. Thus, auto-implemented 

properties simply let the name of the property act as a proxy for the field, itself. However, 

sometimes this is exactly what you want. Also, they can be very useful in cases in which 

properties are used to expose functionality to a third party, possibly through a design tool.