Reputation: 855
Looking for a short & simple example of getters/setters in C#
I am having trouble understanding the concept of getters and setters in the C# language. In languages like Objective-C, they seem an integral part of the system, but not so much in C# (as far as I can tell). I have read books and articles already, so my question is, to those of you who understand getters & setters in C#, what example would you personally use if you were teaching the concept to a complete beginner (this would include as few lines of code as possible)?
Upvotes: 74
Views: 209249
Answers (13)
Reputation: 10015
I think a bit of code will help illustrate what setters and getters are:
public class Foo
{
private string bar;
public string GetBar()
{
return bar;
}
public void SetBar(string value)
{
bar = value;
}
}
In this example we have a private member of the class that is called bar. The GetBar() and SetBar(string value) methods do exactly what they are named - one retrieves the bar member, and the other sets its value.
In C# 1.1 and later, you have properties. The basic functionality is also the same:
public class Foo
{
private string bar;
public string Bar
{
get { return bar; }
set { bar = value; }
}
}
The private member bar is not accessible outside the class, but the public Bar is, and it has two accessors: get, which returns the private member just as the GetBar() example above, and also a set, which corresponds to the SetBar(string value) method in the aforementioned example.
Starting with C# 3.0 and above, the compiler was optimized to the point that such properties do not need to be explicitly given a private member as their source. The compiler automatically generates a private member of that type and uses it as a source of a property.
public class Foo
{
public string Bar { get; set; }
}
What the code shows is an automatic property that has a private member generated by the compiler. You don't see the private member, but it is there. This also introduced a couple of other issues - mainly with access control. In C# 1.1 and 2.0, you could omit the get or set portion of a property entirely:
public class Foo
{
private string bar;
public string Bar
{
get { return bar; }
}
}
Giving you the chance to restrict how other objects interact with the Bar property of the Foo class. But from C# 3.0 to before 6.0, if you chose to use automatic properties, you would have to specify the access to the property as follows to emulate that behavior:
public class Foo
{
public string Bar { get; private set; }
}
The set accessor would still exist, but only the class itself could use it to set Bar to some value, and anyone could still get the value.
Thankfully, starting in C# 6.0, properties can be made read- or write-only again by simply omitting the property's get or set respectively (not to be confused with the readonly keyword):
public class Foo
{
// Read-only property
public string Bar { get; }
// Write-only property (less common)
public string Baz { set; }
}
Upvotes: 102
Reputation: 591
In case someone is looking for a short version of getter only (I was):
public class Foo
{
private string bar;
public string Bar => bar;
}
Upvotes: 1
Reputation: 582
Most languages do it this way, and you can do it in C# too.
public void setRAM(int RAM)
{
this.RAM = RAM;
}
public int getRAM()
{
return this.RAM;
}
But C# also gives a more elegant solution to this:
public class Computer
{
int ram;
public int RAM
{
get
{
return ram;
}
set
{
ram = value; // value is a reserved word and it is a variable that holds the input that is given to ram ( like in the example below )
}
}
}
And later access it with:
Computer comp = new Computer();
comp.RAM = 1024;
int var = comp.RAM;
For newer versions of C# it's even better:
public class Computer
{
public int RAM { get; set; }
}
and later:
Computer comp = new Computer();
comp.RAM = 1024;
int var = comp.RAM;
Upvotes: 14
Reputation: 8047
In C#, Properties represent your Getters and Setters.
Here's an example:
public class PropertyExample
{
private int myIntField = 0;
public int MyInt
{
// This is your getter.
// it uses the accessibility of the property (public)
get
{
return myIntField;
}
// this is your setter
// Note: you can specify different accessibility
// for your getter and setter.
protected set
{
// You can put logic into your getters and setters
// since they actually map to functions behind the scenes
if (DoSomeValidation(value))
{
// The input of the setter is always called "value"
// and is of the same type as your property definition
myIntField = value;
}
}
}
}
You would access this property just like a field. For example:
PropertyExample example = new PropertyExample();
example.MyInt = 4; // sets myIntField to 4
Console.WriteLine( example.MyInt ); // prints 4
A few other things to note:
- You don't have to specifiy both a getter and a setter, you can omit either one.
- Properties are just "syntactic sugar" for your traditional getter and setter. The compiler will actually build get_ and set_ functions behind the scenes (in the compiled IL) and map all references to your property to those functions.
Upvotes: 34
Reputation: 35594
My explanation would be following. (It's not so short, but it's quite simple.)
Imagine a class with a variable:
class Something
{
int weight;
// and other methods, of course, not shown here
}
Well, there is a small problem with this class: no one can see the weight. We could make weight public, but then everyone would be able to change the weight at any moment (which is perhaps not what we want). So, well, we can do a function:
class Something
{
int weight;
public int GetWeight() { return weight; }
// and other methods
}
This is already better, but now everyone instead of plain something.Weight has to type something.GetWeight(), which is, well, ugly.
With properties, we can do the same, but the code stays clean:
class Something
{
public int weight { get; private set; }
// and other methods
}
int w = something.weight // works!
something.weight = x; // doesn't even compile
Nice, so with the properties we have finer control over the variable access.
Another problem: okay, we want the outer code to be able to set weight, but we'd like to control its value, and not allow the weights lower than 100. Moreover, there are is some other inner variable density, which depends on weight, so we'd want to recalculate the density as soon as the weight changes.
This is traditionally achieved in the following way:
class Something
{
int weight;
public int SetWeight(int w)
{
if (w < 100)
throw new ArgumentException("weight too small");
weight = w;
RecalculateDensity();
}
// and other methods
}
something.SetWeight(anotherSomething.GetWeight() + 1);
But again, we don't want expose to our clients that setting the weight is a complicated operation, it's semantically nothing but assigning a new weight. So the code with a setter looks the same way, but nicer:
class Something
{
private int _w;
public int Weight
{
get { return _w; }
set
{
if (value < 100)
throw new ArgumentException("weight too small");
_w = value;
RecalculateDensity();
}
}
// and other methods
}
something.Weight = otherSomething.Weight + 1; // much cleaner, right?
So, no doubt, properties are "just" a syntactic sugar. But it makes the client's code be better. Interestingly, the need for property-like things arises very often, you can check how often you find the functions like GetXXX() and SetXXX() in the other languages.
Upvotes: 14
Reputation: 3688
well here is common usage of getter setter in actual use case,
public class OrderItem
{
public int Id {get;set;}
public int quantity {get;set;}
public int Price {get;set;}
public int TotalAmount {get {return this.quantity *this.Price;}set;}
}
Upvotes: 4
Reputation: 26078
C# introduces properties which do most of the heavy lifting for you...
ie
public string Name { get; set; }
is a C# shortcut to writing...
private string _name;
public string getName { return _name; }
public void setName(string value) { _name = value; }
Basically getters and setters are just means of helping encapsulation. When you make a class you have several class variables that perhaps you want to expose to other classes to allow them to get a glimpse of some of the data you store. While just making the variables public to begin with may seem like an acceptable alternative, in the long run you will regret letting other classes manipulate your classes member variables directly. If you force them to do it through a setter, you can add logic to ensure no strange values ever occur, and you can always change that logic in the future without effecting things already manipulating this class.
ie
private string _name;
public string getName { return _name; }
public void setName(string value)
{
//Don't want things setting my Name to null
if (value == null)
{
throw new InvalidInputException();
}
_name = value;
}
Upvotes: 6
Reputation: 126563
This is a basic example of an object "Article" with getters and setters:
public class Article
{
public String title;
public String link;
public String description;
public string getTitle()
{
return title;
}
public void setTitle(string value)
{
title = value;
}
public string getLink()
{
return link;
}
public void setLink(string value)
{
link = value;
}
public string getDescription()
{
return description;
}
public void setDescription(string value)
{
description = value;
}
}
Upvotes: 0
Reputation: 10171
Simple example
public class Simple
{
public int Propery { get; set; }
}
Upvotes: 1
Reputation: 4656
As far as I understand getters and setters are to improve encapsulation. There is nothing complex about them in C#.
You define a property of on object like this:
int m_colorValue = 0;
public int Color
{
set { m_colorValue = value; }
get { return m_colorValue; }
}
This is the most simple use. It basically sets an internal variable or retrieves its value. You use a Property like this:
someObject.Color = 222; // sets a color 222
int color = someObject.Color // gets the color of the object
You could eventually do some processing on the value in the setters or getters like this:
public int Color
{
set { m_colorValue = value + 5; }
get { return m_colorValue - 30; }
}
if you skip set or get, your property will be read or write only. That's how I understand the stuff.
Upvotes: 1
Reputation: 13429
Internally, getters and setters are just methods. When C# compiles, it generates methods for your getters and setters like this, for example:
public int get_MyProperty() { ... }
public void set_MyProperty(int value) { ... }
C# allows you to declare these methods using a short-hand syntax. The line below will be compiled into the methods above when you build your application.
public int MyProperty { get; set; }
or
private int myProperty;
public int MyProperty
{
get { return myProperty; }
set { myProperty = value; } // value is an implicit parameter containing the value being assigned to the property.
}
Upvotes: 0
Reputation: 2738
Getters and Setters in C# are something that simplifies the code.
private string name = "spots";
public string Name
{
get { return name; }
set { name = value; }
}
And calling it (assume we have a person obj with a name property):
Console.WriteLine(Person.Name); //prints "spots"
Person.Name = "stops";
Console.Writeline(Person.Name); //prints "stops"
This simplifies your code. Where in Java you might have to have two methods, one to Get() and one to Set() the property, in C# it is all done in one spot. I usually do this at the start of my classes:
public string foobar {get; set;}
This creates a getter and setter for my foobar property. Calling it is the same way as shown before. Somethings to note are that you don't have to include both get and set. If you don't want the property being modified, don't include set!
Upvotes: 0
Reputation: 31651
This would be a get/set in C# using the smallest amount of code possible. You get auto-implemented properties in C# 3.0+.
public class Contact
{
public string Name { get; set; }
}
Upvotes: 1