title: c# Property set - Why use a private variable
body: <p>I always see properties using a private variable to hold the value like this.</p>
  
  <pre><code>private int _myValue;
  public int MyValue { get { return _myValue; } set { _myValue = value; } }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Why can't I just skip the private variable and do this...</p>
  
  <pre><code>public int MyValue { get { return MyValue; } set { MyValue = value; } }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>*Note:  I didn't want to use auto properties because I was hoping to be able to do something like this.</p>
  
  <pre><code>public int MyValue { get { return MyValue.Tolower().Trim(); } set { MyValue = value; } }
  </code></pre>