Class internal usage of public properties
<p>Let's say I have a class that exposes one property. Is it considered to be a good aproach to use the private "holder variable" for internal use in the class? Or should I use the property for internal use also.</p>

<p>To explain, should I use:</p>

<pre><code>public class foo
{
    String _statusHolder;
    public String myStaus
    {
        get { return _statusHolder; }
        set{ _statusHolder = value; }
    }

    public void DisplayMyStatus()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(_statusHolder);
    }
}
</code></pre>

<p>Or:</p>

<pre><code>public class foo
{
    String _statusHolder;
    public String myStaus
    {
        get { return _statusHolder; }
        set{ _statusHolder = value; }
    }

    public void DisplayMyStatus()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(myStaus);
    }
}
</code></pre>

<p>I could see it as beeing more consistent and more readable to use the second approach. It would also be more effective if I would later do some modificatins in the set-statement. But are there any performance issues or is it considered bad-practise for some reason?</p>

<p><hr /></p>

<p><strong>EDIT:</strong></p>

<p>It seems that everybody is leaning towards using the property internally. My initial thoughts was the same, but as a novice programmer, you can never know.
Thanks everyone for the quick feedback!</p>
