Public Fields vs Getters And Setters

Developers should use public fields when creating simple data structures like DTOs (Data Transfer Objects) or POCOs (Plain Old CLR Objects) where encapsulation is not a priority, or in performance-critical scenarios where minimizing method calls is beneficial meets developers should use getters and setters to maintain encapsulation, ensuring data integrity by validating inputs before assignment and preventing direct access to sensitive fields. Here's our take.

Public Fields

Nice Pick

Developers should use public fields when creating simple data structures like DTOs (Data Transfer Objects) or POCOs (Plain Old CLR Objects) where encapsulation is not a priority, or in performance-critical scenarios where minimizing method calls is beneficial

Pros

• They are also common in languages like Python or JavaScript where public access is the default, but in stricter languages like Java or C#, they are generally discouraged in favor of properties or private fields with accessors to maintain control over data
• Related to: object-oriented-programming, encapsulation

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Getters And Setters

Developers should use getters and setters to maintain encapsulation, ensuring data integrity by validating inputs before assignment and preventing direct access to sensitive fields

Pros

• They are essential in scenarios requiring computed properties, logging changes, or implementing business rules, such as in enterprise applications, APIs, or frameworks that rely on property-based data binding
• Related to: object-oriented-programming, encapsulation

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Public Fields if: You want they are also common in languages like python or javascript where public access is the default, but in stricter languages like java or c#, they are generally discouraged in favor of properties or private fields with accessors to maintain control over data and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Getters And Setters if: You prioritize they are essential in scenarios requiring computed properties, logging changes, or implementing business rules, such as in enterprise applications, apis, or frameworks that rely on property-based data binding over what Public Fields offers.

The Bottom Line

Public Fields wins

Developers should use public fields when creating simple data structures like DTOs (Data Transfer Objects) or POCOs (Plain Old CLR Objects) where encapsulation is not a priority, or in performance-critical scenarios where minimizing method calls is beneficial