Check if a type int is assigned a value

I declare a variable:

public int left;

Sometimes it is assigned a value other times not. Obviously I want to catch times when it isn't assign to avoid errors but I can't find a way to do it I've tried:

if (left != null) {

But null can't be used with type int.

Help!

DJ

Perhaps give it a default value?

Code:

---

const int DefaultValueBlah = 0;
int x = DefaultValueBlah;

if (x == DefaultValueBlah) {}

---

No need (but it's good practice), integral datatypes are set to 0 by default , string types to "" .

Thing is I don't really want a default value as the variable could be set as a negative or postive number or even zero. I need to be able to tell if this variable has been assigned a value or not.

I'm thinking I might need to have a second boolean variable that holds if this value was set.

Cheers

DJ