Property. Which one should I use?

[shapper]

Hello,

Is there a difference between defining a control property in the
following two ways:

' Items ...
Private _Items As Generic.List(Of ListItem) = New Generic.List(Of
ListItem) ****
Property Items() As Generic.List(Of ListItem)
Get
Return _Items
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Generic.List(Of ListItem))
_Items = value
End Set
End Property ' Items

Or

' Items ...
Private _Items As Generic.List(Of ListItem) ****
Property Items() As Generic.List(Of ListItem)
Get
If _Items Is Nothing Then
****
_Items = New Generic.List(Of WebControl) ****
End
If ****
Return _Items
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Generic.List(Of ListItem))
_Items = value
End Set
End Property ' Items

I marked the differences with ****.

Which approach should I use?

Thanks,
Miguel

 

[KJ]

Why declare it as ListItem, then assign as WebControl?

 

[shapper]

Why declare it as ListItem, then assign as WebControl?

Sorry,

That was a type mistake.
My question is if I should declare a default value when I do "dim ..."

Or use an IF inside Get in property.

Thanks,
Miguel

 

[KJ]

Miguel,

At the very least, you should declare it and assign as Nothing.

In the property, you can assign the List to have a value if it's still
Nothing. That is fine; it's also known as "Lazy Instantiation"