Collections and Data Structures
Closely related data can be handled more efficiently when grouped together into a collection. Instead of writing separate code to handle each individual object, you can use the same code to process all the elements of a collection.
To manage a collection, use the System.Array class and the classes in the System.Collections, System.Collections.Generic, and System.Collections.Concurrent namespaces to add, remove, and modify either individual elements or a range of elements in the collection. An entire collection can even be copied to another collection.
Some System.Collections classes have sorting capabilities, and most are indexed. Memory management is handled automatically, and the capacity of a collection is expanded as required. Synchronization provides thread safety when accessing members of the collection. Some System.Collections classes can generate wrappers that make the collection read-only or fixed-size. Any System.Collections class can generate its own enumerator that makes it easy to iterate through the elements.
In the .NET Framework version 2.0, generic collection classes provide new functionality and make it easy to create strongly typed collections. See the System.Collections.Generic and System.Collections.ObjectModel namespaces.
In the .NET Framework version 4, the collections in the System.Collections.Concurrent namespace provide efficient thread-safe operations for accessing collection items from multiple threads.
The LINQ to Objects feature enables you to use LINQ queries to access in-memory objects as long as the object type implements the System.Collections.IEnumerable or System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<T> interface. LINQ queries provide a common pattern for accessing data; are typically more concise and readable than standard foreach loops; and provide filtering, ordering and grouping capabilities. LINQ queries can also improve performance. For more information, see LINQ to Objects and Parallel LINQ (PLINQ).
Related Topics
Title |
Description |
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Describes what collection types are, and explains the differences between generic and nongeneric collection types in the .NET Framework class library. |
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Describes commonly used generic and nongeneric collection types such as System.Array, System.Collections.Generic.List<T>, and System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary<TKey, TValue>. |
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Describes System.Collections.BitArray and System.Collections.Specialized.BitVector32 collection types. |
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Describes special-purpose collections such as System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection, System.Collections.Specialized.StringDictionary, and System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection. |
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Describes collection types such as System.Collections.Concurrent.BlockingCollection<T> and System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentBag<T> that support safe and efficient concurrent access from multiple threads. |
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Discusses how to select the best collection type, enumerate collections, use collections with multiple threads, and sort collections. |
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Discusses the use of generic collection types. |