Difference Between Select and SelectMany

Question

I\'ve been searching the difference between Select and SelectMany but I haven\'t been able to find a suitable answer. I need to learn the differenc

Answer 1

Here is a code example with an initialized small collection for testing:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        List orders = new List
        {
            new Order
            {
                OrderID = "orderID1",
                OrderLines = new List
                {
                    new OrderLine
                    {
                        ProductSKU = "SKU1",
                        Quantity = 1
                    },
                    new OrderLine
                    {
                        ProductSKU = "SKU2",
                        Quantity = 2
                    },
                    new OrderLine
                    {
                        ProductSKU = "SKU3",
                        Quantity = 3
                    }
                }
            },
            new Order
            {
                OrderID = "orderID2",
                OrderLines = new List
                {
                    new OrderLine
                    {
                        ProductSKU = "SKU4",
                        Quantity = 4
                    },
                    new OrderLine
                    {
                        ProductSKU = "SKU5",
                        Quantity = 5
                    }
                }
            }
        };

        //required result is the list of all SKUs in orders
        List allSKUs = new List();

        //With Select case 2 foreach loops are required
        var flattenedOrdersLinesSelectCase = orders.Select(o => o.OrderLines);
        foreach (var flattenedOrderLine in flattenedOrdersLinesSelectCase)
        {
            foreach (OrderLine orderLine in flattenedOrderLine)
            {
                allSKUs.Add(orderLine.ProductSKU);
            }
        }

        //With SelectMany case only one foreach loop is required
        allSKUs = new List();
        var flattenedOrdersLinesSelectManyCase = orders.SelectMany(o => o.OrderLines);
        foreach (var flattenedOrderLine in flattenedOrdersLinesSelectManyCase)
        {
            allSKUs.Add(flattenedOrderLine.ProductSKU);
        }

       //If the required result is flattened list which has OrderID, ProductSKU and Quantity,
       //SelectMany with selector is very helpful to get the required result
       //and allows avoiding own For loops what according to my experience do code faster when
       // hundreds of thousands of data rows must be operated
        List ordersLinesForReport = (List)orders.SelectMany(o => o.OrderLines,
            (o, ol) => new OrderLineForReport
            {
                OrderID = o.OrderID,
                ProductSKU = ol.ProductSKU,
                Quantity = ol.Quantity
            }).ToList();
    }
}
class Order
{
    public string OrderID { get; set; }
    public List OrderLines { get; set; }
}
class OrderLine
{
    public string ProductSKU { get; set; }
    public int Quantity { get; set; }
}
class OrderLineForReport
{
    public string OrderID { get; set; }
    public string ProductSKU { get; set; }
    public int Quantity { get; set; }
}