One of the reasons I prefer C# to VB.Net is for its brevity (not true in every case, but generally so).  Adding to the list of its syntax shortcuts, C# 2.0 introduces a new operator:  "??", dubbed the "null coalescing" operator.  For you SQLServer gurus out there, it is somewhat analagous to the COALESCE() function in Transact-SQL...it evaluates a single value and returns a second value if the first value is null (note, the type involved must be nullable).  

string customerName=null;
string newCustomerName=null;

// a long way of assigning newCustomerName
if (customerName == null) {
   newCustomerName = "Empty"; }
else{
   newCustomerName = customerName;}

// a slightly shorter approach, using ?: "ternary operator"
newCustomerName = (customerName == null ? "Empty" : customerName);

// much more concise, using the new ?? operator
newCustomerName = customerName ?? "Empty";

More information here.