How can I return an empty IEnumerable?

Question

Given the following code and the suggestions given in this question, I\'ve decided to modify this original method and ask if there are any values in the IEnumarable return i

Answer 1

I think the simplest way would be

 return new Friend[0];

The requirements of the return are merely that the method return an object which implements IEnumerable<Friend>. The fact that under different circumstances you return two different kinds of objects is irrelevant, as long as both implement IEnumerable.

Answer 2

public IEnumerable<Friend> FindFriends()
{
    return userExists ? doc.Descendants("user").Select(user => new Friend
        {
            ID = user.Element("id").Value,
            Name = user.Element("name").Value,
            URL = user.Element("url").Value,
            Photo = user.Element("photo").Value
        }): new List<Friend>();
}

Answer 3

You could return Enumerable.Empty<T>().

Answer 4

As for me, most elegant way is yield break

Answer 5

That's of course only a matter of personal preference, but I'd write this function using yield return:

public IEnumerable<Friend> FindFriends()
{
    //Many thanks to Rex-M for his help with this one.
    //http://stackoverflow.com/users/67/rex-m
    if (userExists)
    {
        foreach(var user in doc.Descendants("user"))
        {
            yield return new Friend
                {
                    ID = user.Element("id").Value,
                    Name = user.Element("name").Value,
                    URL = user.Element("url").Value,
                    Photo = user.Element("photo").Value
                }
        }
    }
}

Answer 6

You can use list ?? Enumerable.Empty<Friend>(), or have FindFriends return Enumerable.Empty<Friend>()