Quick way to create a list of values in C#?

Question

I\'m looking for a quick way to create a list of values in C#. In Java I frequently use the snippet below:

List l = Arrays.asList(\"test1\",\"test2         


        

Answer 1

In C# 3, you can do:

IList<string> l = new List<string> { "test1", "test2", "test3" };

This uses the new collection initializer syntax in C# 3.

In C# 2, I would just use your second option.

Answer 2

You can create helper generic, static method to create list:

internal static class List
{
    public static List<T> Of<T>(params T[] args)
    {
        return new List<T>(args);
    }
}

And then usage is very compact:

List.Of("test1", "test2", "test3")

Answer 3

If you're looking to reduce clutter, consider

var lst = new List<string> { "foo", "bar" };

This uses two features of C# 3.0: type inference (the var keyword) and the collection initializer for lists.

Alternatively, if you can make do with an array, this is even shorter (by a small amount):

var arr = new [] { "foo", "bar" };

Answer 4

A list of values quickly? Or even a list of objects!

I am just a beginner at the C# language but I like using

• Hashtable
• Arraylist
• Datatable
• Datasets

etc.

There's just too many ways to store items