thzinc

Think LINQ – .ToLookup()

There is an class in the .NET generic collection framework that is often overlooked: Lookup<>. In effect, a Lookup<> functions like a Dictionary<> whose value is an IEnumerable<>. Though Lookup<T,U> is an implementation of IEnumerable<IGrouping<T, U>>, it functions with a similar efficiency to Dictionary<T,IEnumerable<U>>. Part of the LINQ extension methods include .ToLookup(), which works very similarly to .ToDictionary().

public struct Widget {
	public string Name;
	public string Type;
}

/* snip */

public void WriteThings()
{
	IEnumerable<Widget> widgets = new Widget[] {
		new Widget { Name = "Thingamabob", Type = "Thing" },
		new Widget { Name = "Wogglefinger", Type = "Idea" },
		new Widget { Name = "Doohickey", Type = "Thing" },
		new Widget { Name = "Pizzoli", Type = "Idea" }
	};

	ILookup<string,Widget> widgetsByType = widgets.ToLookup(w => w.Type, w => w);

	foreach (Widget widget in widgetsByType["Thing"])
	{
		System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Type: {0}, Name: {1}", widget.Type, widget.Name);
	}
}

The WriteThings() method outputs the following to the debug stream:

Type: Thing, Name: Thingamabob
Type: Thing, Name: Doohickey