Tip from the C# PM ...

Some people have taken this as an absolute rule, so I've been seeing lots of code that uses properties on every class. If you don't need the versioning advantages of properties, you don't need to spend the time writing lots of trivial properties (those where the getter and setter don't do anything special).

In fact, I'll say that a bit stronger. You probably shouldn't use properties unless you need them, as it takes more work and makes your classes harder to read and maintain.

So, when should you use properties that you don't need? My suggestion is to only use them at versioning boundaries. If a class and the classes that use it are always compiled together, than properties don't buy you any advantage. If they are compiled separately, then using properties instead of fields looks like a better idea.

[Via: Artima Developer Buzz]