WCF: DataMember attribute on property vs. member

Question

In wcf, what is the difference between applying the DataMember attribute on a property

private int m_SomeValue;

[DataMember]  
public int SomeVal         


        

Answer 1

As long as you use the Name marker, the contract is identical regardless of whether the field or property is used.

[DataMember(Name="SomeValue")]
private int m_SomeValue;

However, there may be some permissions issues accessing private members, in particular on silverlight and CF - in which case I would recommend using the public property as the data-member. Actually, I would tend to always use a property unless I had a very good reason...