Using properties vs. methods for calculating changing values

Question

Is there a convention for whether or not to use a property to calculate a value on call? For instance if my class contains a list of integers and I have a property Average, the average will possibly change when an integer is added/removed/modified from the list, does doing something like this:

    private int? _ave = null;
    public int Average
    {
        get
        {
            if (_ave == null )
            {
                double accum = 0;
                foreach (int i in myList)
                {
                    accum += i;
                }
                _ave = accum / myList.Count;
                return (int)_ave;
            }
            else
            {
                return (int)_ave;
            }
        }
    }

where _ave is set to null if myList is modified in a way that may change the average...

Have any conventional advantage/disadvantage over a method call to average?

I am basically just wondering what the conventions are for this, as I am creating a class that has specific properties that may only be calculated once. I like the idea of the classes that access these properties to be able to access the property vs. a method (as it seems more readable IMO, to treat something like average as a property rather than a method), but I can see where this might get convoluted, especially in making sure that _ave is set to null appropriately.

Answer 1

The conventions are:

• If the call is going to take significantly more time than simply reading a field and copying the value in it, make it a method. Properties should be fast.
• If the member represents an action or an ability of the class, make it a method.
• If the call to the getter mutates state, make it a method. Properties are invoked automatically in the debugger, and it is extremely confusing to have the debugger introducing mutations in your program as you debug it.
• If the call is not robust in the face of being called at unusual times then make it a method. Properties need to continue to work when in used in constructors and finalizers, for example. Again, think about the debugger; if you are debugging a constructor then it should be OK for you to examine a property in the debugger even if it has not actually been initialized yet.
• If the call can fail then make it a method. Properties should not throw exceptions.

In your specific case, it is borderline. You are performing a potentially lengthy operation the first time and then caching the result, so the amortized time is likely to be very fast even if the worst-case time is slow. You are mutating state, but again, in quite a non-destructive way. It seems like you could characterize it as a property of a set rather than an "ability" of the set. I would personally be inclined to make this a method but I would not push back very hard if you had a good reason to make it a property.

Regarding your specific implementation: I would be much more inclined to use a 64 bit integer as the accumulator rather than a 64 bit double; the double only has 53 bits of integer precision compared to the 64 bits of a long.