C# Language Specification

Fields

A field is a member that represents a variable associated with an object or class. A field-declaration introduces one or more fields of a given type.

field-declaration:
attributes_opt field-modifiers_opt type variable-declarators ;

field-modifiers:
field-modifier
field-modifiers field-modifier

field-modifier:

new
public
protected
internal
private
static
readonly
volatile

variable-declarators:
variable-declarator
variable-declarators , variable-declarator

variable-declarator:
identifier
identifier = variable-initializer

variable-initializer:
expression
array-initializer

A field-declaration may include a set of attributes (§17), a new modifier (§10.3.4), a valid combination of the four access modifiers (§10.3.5), and a static modifier (§10.5.1). In addition, a field-declaration may include a readonly modifier (§10.5.2) or a volatile modifier (§10.5.3) but not both. The attributes and modifiers apply to all of the members declared by the field-declaration. It is an error for the same modifier to appear multiple times in a field declaration.

The type of a field-declaration specifies the type of the members introduced by the declaration. The type is followed by a list of variable-declarators, each of which introduces a new member. A variable-declarator consists of an identifier that names that member, optionally followed by an “=” token and a variable-initializer (§10.5.5) that gives the initial value of that member.

The type of a field must be at least as accessible as the field itself (§3.5.4).

The value of a field is obtained in an expression using a simple-name (§7.6.2) or a member-access (§7.6.4). The value of a non-readonly field is modified using an assignment (§7.17). The value of a non-readonly field can be both obtained and modified using postfix increment and decrement operators (§7.6.9) and prefix increment and decrement operators (§7.7.5).

A field declaration that declares multiple fields is equivalent to multiple declarations of single fields with the same attributes, modifiers, and type. For example

class A
{
public static int X = 1, Y, Z = 100;
}

is equivalent to

class A
{
public static int X = 1;
public static int Y;
public static int Z = 100;
}

1.