How to return a new instance of an object in C# Automatic Properties

Question

Is it possible, using C# Automatic Properties, to create a new instance of an object?

in C# I love how I can do this:

public string ShortProp {get; set;}

is it possible to do this for objects like List that first need to be instantiated?

ie:

List<string> LongProp  = new List<string>(); 
public List<string> LongProp {  
    get {  
        return LongProp ;  
    }  
    set {  
         LongProp  = value;  
    }  
}

Answer 1

You can initialize your backing field on the constructor:

public class MyClass {
    public List<object> ClinicalStartDates {get; set;}
    ...
    public MyClass() {
        ClinicalStartDates = new List<object>();
    }
}

But... are you sure about making this list a property with a public setter? I don't know your code, but maybe you should expose less of your classes' properties:

public class MyClass {
    public List<object> ClinicalStartDates {get; private set;}
    ...
    public MyClass() {
        ClinicalStartDates = new List<object>();
    }
}