Initialization of instance fields vs. local variables

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For local variables, the compiler has a good idea of the flow – it can see a “read” of the variable and a “write” of the variable, and prove (in most cases) that the first write will happen before the first read.

This isn’t the case with instance variables. Consider a simple property – how do you know if someone will set it before they get it? That makes it basically infeasible to enforce sensible rules – so either you’d have to ensure that all fields were set in the constructor, or allow them to have default values. The C# team chose the latter strategy.

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