C# Language Specification

Member names reserved for properties

For a property P (§10.7) of type T, the following signatures are reserved:

T get_P();

void set_P(T value);

Both signatures are reserved, even if the property is read-only or write-only.

In the example

using System;

class A
{
public int P {
get { return 123; }
}
}

class B: A

{
new public int get_P() {
return 456;
}

new public void set_P(int value) {

}
}

class Test

{
static void Main() {
B b = new B();
A a = b;
Console.WriteLine(a.P);
Console.WriteLine(b.P);
Console.WriteLine(b.get_P());
}
}

a class A defines a read-only property P, thus reserving signatures for get_P and set_P methods. A class B derives from A and hides both of these reserved signatures. The example produces the output:

123
123
456

2.