Proper way to initialize a C# dictionary with values?

Question

I am creating a dictionary in a C# file with the following code:

private readonly Dictionary FILE_TYPE_DICT
        = new Dictiona         


        

Answer 1

With C# 6.0, you can create a dictionary in following way:

var dict = new Dictionary<string, int>
{
    ["one"] = 1,
    ["two"] = 2,
    ["three"] = 3
};

It even works with custom types.

Answer 2

You can initialize a Dictionary (and other collections) inline. Each member is contained with braces:

Dictionary<int, StudentName> students = new Dictionary<int, StudentName>
{
    { 111, new StudentName { FirstName = "Sachin", LastName = "Karnik", ID = 211 } },
    { 112, new StudentName { FirstName = "Dina", LastName = "Salimzianova", ID = 317 } },
    { 113, new StudentName { FirstName = "Andy", LastName = "Ruth", ID = 198 } }
};

See MSDN for details.

Answer 3

Suppose we have a dictionary like this

Dictionary<int,string> dict = new Dictionary<int, string>();
dict.Add(1, "Mohan");
dict.Add(2, "Kishor");
dict.Add(3, "Pankaj");
dict.Add(4, "Jeetu");

We can initialize it as follow.

Dictionary<int, string> dict = new Dictionary<int, string>  
{
    { 1, "Mohan" },
    { 2, "Kishor" },
    { 3, "Pankaj" },
    { 4, "Jeetu" }
};

Answer 4

I can't reproduce this issue in a simple .NET 4.0 console application:

static class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var myDict = new Dictionary<string, string>
        {
            { "key1", "value1" },
            { "key2", "value2" }
        };

        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}

Can you try to reproduce it in a simple Console application and go from there? It seems likely that you're targeting .NET 2.0 (which doesn't support it) or client profile framework, rather than a version of .NET that supports initialization syntax.

Answer 5

Object initializers were introduced in C# 3.0, check which framework version you are targeting.

Overview of C# 3.0

Answer 6

With С# 6.0

var myDict = new Dictionary<string, string>
{
    ["Key1"] = "Value1",
    ["Key2"] = "Value2"
};