CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.net
Beginner Programmer
Beginner Programmer

Reputation: 167

string stringName {get; set;} vs stringName stringName {get; set;}

I just started learning C# and I saw something like this:

public class Name
{
  string FirstName {get; set;}
}

VS

public class Name
{
  FirstName FirstName {get; set;}
}

Can someone explain the difference between the two? When to use one vs the other?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 293

Answers (2)

ProgrammingLlama
ProgrammingLlama

Reputation: 38850

The first one declares that the property is of type string:

string FirstName {get; set;}

The second declares that the property is of type FirstName:

FirstName FirstName {get; set;}

So I imagine your scenario is like this:

public class Name
{
    public FirstName FirstName {get;set;}
    public LastName LastName {get;set;}
}

public class FirstName 
{
    public string Name {get;set;}
}

public class LastName
{
    public string Name {get;set;}
}

In C# there are two kinds of data types: 1. Inbuilt - they are part of the language. 2. User-defined - they are part of your code, or the code of a library you are using.

String (or, to use its fully qualified name: System.String) is part part of the language itself. Some types are part of the .NET framework and you can, for all intents and purposes, consider these the same as 1.

Other types are defined in code, or the code of third-party libraries that you use. These are considered to be user-defined types. In your case, FirstName will be a user-defined type (probably a class or a struct).

Upvotes: 6

T.S.
T.S.

Reputation: 19384

I give you as simple answer as can be. Here FirstName FirstName {get; set;} you have 

FirstName // type identifier
FirstName // identifier
{get; set;} // access modifier

Since FirstName in position of "type identifier" is a type. Your question boils down to, "what is difference between string and FirstName"?

Well, we all know the type called System.String, shortly string. It is provided by Microsoft. But what about FirstName? What is the full namespace for it? Sort of like asking difference between string and int. They both types, both derive from object but everything else is different.

Now, it is totally possible for a class as this 

class FirstName
{
    FirstName FirstName {get; set;} 
}

In this case you have a class FirstName that contains property FirstName, which will return (if set) object of type FirstName, which is of same object type as defined by class FirstName, and which will contain a property FirstName, and so on.

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions