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Shadab Khan
5,470 PointsGeneral rule of thumb for using fields vs properties vs functions ?
Hi, What is the general rule of thumb for using fields vs properties vs functions in C# ? In my understanding, on should use a field to represent a moving part of a class (variable) for e.g. in Treehouse Defense game Invader class; we use _pathStep as a field to increment it everytime we move the Invader using its Move function. Then one should use a property to represent a class's data for e.g. Invader Health property, and should use functions to implement the behaviour of a class which could be a bunch of lines of code. Please give me further advice to cement my understanding.
2 Answers
Steven Parker
231,110 PointsThere's a lot of overlap between these concepts, and many times it's just a matter of "developer's choice". Sometimes the situation will steer the decision, for example a computed property can't take a parameter but a function can. Yet in other situations any choice might work. But as a general rule of thumb:
- a field stores data associated with an object
- a property allows special control of the access
- a computed property allows the data to be accessed in a different form from how it is stored
- a function should be used when some action or service is being performed
Shadab Khan
5,470 PointsThanks Steven. That helps :)