Array as property. Looking for simpler way to fill an array - c#

I am pretty new to C# and I see a lot of code where I'm not quite familiar with the syntax. So I was wondering if there's some simpler way of doing what I did here:
I have a class with various properties and functions. One of them is public int gettypeforitem(int i) which returns an integer.
I want to define a property of type int[] that returns an array of the types of all items.
I come from C++, so the following code seems logic to me, but I was wondering if there's a more "straight forward" way in doing this in C#.
Thank you!
public int[] type
{
get
{
List<int> _list = new List<int>();
for(uint i=0; i<NumberOfItems;i++)
_list.Add(gettypeforitem(i));
return _list.ToArray();
}
}

LINQ is the way forward here, I'd say:
public int[] Types => Enumerable.Range(0, NumberOfItems)
.Select(i => GetTypeForItem(i))
.ToArray();
I've changed the names to follow .NET naming conventions, and this is using C# 6's expression-bodied property syntax.
As this is doing a relatively large amount of work for a property - generating a new array every call, for a start - you might want to consider making it a method instead:
public int[] GetTypes() => Enumerable.Range(0, NumberOfItems)
.Select(i => GetTypeForItem(i))
.ToArray();
As noted in comments elsewhere, you may be able to use a method group conversion for the argument to the Select method:
public int[] GetTypes() => Enumerable.Range(0, NumberOfItems)
.Select(GetTypeForItem)
.ToArray();
The exact rules for when method group conversions are valid as arguments always elude me, so I won't try to summarise them here. (They've changed over time, too.)

public int[] type
{
get
{
return Enumerable.Range(0, NumberOfItems).Select(gettypeforitem).ToArray();
}
}
Update:
As suggested in comments its better to keep C# naming standards:
public int[] Types
{
get
{
return Enumerable.Range(0, NumberOfItems).Select(getTypeForItem).ToArray();
}
}

Since you know the number of items, you can create an array straight away:
int[] _arr = new int[NumberOfItems];
for(uint i=0; i<NumberOfItems;i++)
_arr[i] = gettypeforitem(i);
return _arr;
Or if you don't care about the overhead:
Enumerable.Range(0, NumberOfItems).Select(gettypeforitem).ToArray();

Does the return type of the property have to be really an array? If not, you can alternatively also use this:
public IEnumerable<int> type
{
get
{
for(uint i=0; i<NumberOfItems;i++)
yield return gettypeforitem(i);
}
}
and then:
myObject.type.ToArray();

Related

difference Tuple<int, double> vs. (int, double) [duplicate]

I decompiled some C# 7 libraries and saw ValueTuple generics being used. What are ValueTuples and why not Tuple instead?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/dotnet/api/system.tuple
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/dotnet/api/system.valuetuple
What are ValueTuples and why not Tuple instead?
A ValueTuple is a struct which reflects a tuple, same as the original System.Tuple class.
The main difference between Tuple and ValueTuple are:
System.ValueTuple is a value type (struct), while System.Tuple is a reference type (class). This is meaningful when talking about allocations and GC pressure.
System.ValueTuple isn't only a struct, it's a mutable one, and one has to be careful when using them as such. Think what happens when a class holds a System.ValueTuple as a field.
System.ValueTuple exposes its items via fields instead of properties.
Until C# 7, using tuples wasn't very convenient. Their field names are Item1, Item2, etc, and the language hadn't supplied syntax sugar for them like most other languages do (Python, Scala).
When the .NET language design team decided to incorporate tuples and add syntax sugar to them at the language level an important factor was performance. With ValueTuple being a value type, you can avoid GC pressure when using them because (as an implementation detail) they'll be allocated on the stack.
Additionally, a struct gets automatic (shallow) equality semantics by the runtime, where a class doesn't. Although the design team made sure there will be an even more optimized equality for tuples, hence implemented a custom equality for it.
Here is a paragraph from the design notes of Tuples:
Struct or Class:
As mentioned, I propose to make tuple types structs rather than
classes, so that no allocation penalty is associated with them. They
should be as lightweight as possible.
Arguably, structs can end up being more costly, because assignment
copies a bigger value. So if they are assigned a lot more than they
are created, then structs would be a bad choice.
In their very motivation, though, tuples are ephemeral. You would use
them when the parts are more important than the whole. So the common
pattern would be to construct, return and immediately deconstruct
them. In this situation structs are clearly preferable.
Structs also have a number of other benefits, which will become
obvious in the following.
Examples:
You can easily see that working with System.Tuple becomes ambiguous very quickly. For example, say we have a method which calculates a sum and a count of a List<Int>:
public Tuple<int, int> DoStuff(IEnumerable<int> values)
{
var sum = 0;
var count = 0;
foreach (var value in values) { sum += value; count++; }
return new Tuple(sum, count);
}
On the receiving end, we end up with:
Tuple<int, int> result = DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
// What is Item1 and what is Item2?
// Which one is the sum and which is the count?
Console.WriteLine(result.Item1);
Console.WriteLine(result.Item2);
The way you can deconstruct value tuples into named arguments is the real power of the feature:
public (int sum, int count) DoStuff(IEnumerable<int> values)
{
var res = (sum: 0, count: 0);
foreach (var value in values) { res.sum += value; res.count++; }
return res;
}
And on the receiving end:
var result = DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
Console.WriteLine($"Sum: {result.sum}, Count: {result.count}");
Or:
var (sum, count) = DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
Console.WriteLine($"Sum: {sum}, Count: {count}");
Compiler goodies:
If we look under the cover of our previous example, we can see exactly how the compiler is interpreting ValueTuple when we ask it to deconstruct:
[return: TupleElementNames(new string[] {
"sum",
"count"
})]
public ValueTuple<int, int> DoStuff(IEnumerable<int> values)
{
ValueTuple<int, int> result;
result..ctor(0, 0);
foreach (int current in values)
{
result.Item1 += current;
result.Item2++;
}
return result;
}
public void Foo()
{
ValueTuple<int, int> expr_0E = this.DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
int item = expr_0E.Item1;
int arg_1A_0 = expr_0E.Item2;
}
Internally, the compiled code utilizes Item1 and Item2, but all of this is abstracted away from us since we work with a decomposed tuple. A tuple with named arguments gets annotated with the TupleElementNamesAttribute. If we use a single fresh variable instead of decomposing, we get:
public void Foo()
{
ValueTuple<int, int> valueTuple = this.DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Sum: {0}, Count: {1})", valueTuple.Item1, valueTuple.Item2));
}
Note that the compiler still has to make some magic happen (via the attribute) when we debug our application, as it would be odd to see Item1, Item2.
The difference between Tuple and ValueTuple is that Tuple is a reference type and ValueTuple is a value type. The latter is desirable because changes to the language in C# 7 have tuples being used much more frequently, but allocating a new object on the heap for every tuple is a performance concern, particularly when it's unnecessary.
However, in C# 7, the idea is that you never have to explicitly use either type because of the syntax sugar being added for tuple use. For example, in C# 6, if you wanted to use a tuple to return a value, you would have to do the following:
public Tuple<string, int> GetValues()
{
// ...
return new Tuple(stringVal, intVal);
}
var value = GetValues();
string s = value.Item1;
However, in C# 7, you can use this:
public (string, int) GetValues()
{
// ...
return (stringVal, intVal);
}
var value = GetValues();
string s = value.Item1;
You can even go a step further and give the values names:
public (string S, int I) GetValues()
{
// ...
return (stringVal, intVal);
}
var value = GetValues();
string s = value.S;
... Or deconstruct the tuple entirely:
public (string S, int I) GetValues()
{
// ...
return (stringVal, intVal);
}
var (S, I) = GetValues();
string s = S;
Tuples weren't often used in C# pre-7 because they were cumbersome and verbose, and only really used in cases where building a data class/struct for just a single instance of work would be more trouble than it was worth. But in C# 7, tuples have language-level support now, so using them is much cleaner and more useful.
I looked at the source for both Tuple and ValueTuple. The difference is that Tuple is a class and ValueTuple is a struct that implements IEquatable.
That means that Tuple == Tuple will return false if they are not the same instance, but ValueTuple == ValueTuple will return true if they are of the same type and Equals returns true for each of the values they contain.
In addition to the comments above, one unfortunate gotcha of ValueTuple is that, as a value type, the named arguments get erased when compiled to IL, so they're not available for serialisation at runtime.
i.e. Your sweet named arguments will still end up as "Item1", "Item2", etc. when serialised via e.g. Json.NET.
Other answers forgot to mention important points.Instead of rephrasing, I'm gonna reference the XML documentation from source code:
The ValueTuple types (from arity 0 to 8) comprise the runtime implementation that underlies
tuples in C# and struct tuples in F#.
Aside from created via language syntax, they are most easily created via the
ValueTuple.Create factory methods.
The System.ValueTuple types differ from the System.Tuple types in that:
they are structs rather than classes,
they are mutable rather than readonly, and
their members (such as Item1, Item2, etc) are fields rather than properties.
With introduction of this type and C# 7.0 compiler, you can easily write
(int, string) idAndName = (1, "John");
And return two values from a method:
private (int, string) GetIdAndName()
{
//.....
return (id, name);
}
Contrary to System.Tuple you can update its members (Mutable) because they are public read-write Fields that can be given meaningful names:
(int id, string name) idAndName = (1, "John");
idAndName.name = "New Name";
Late-joining to add a quick clarification on these two factoids:
they are structs rather than classes
they are mutable rather than readonly
One would think that changing value-tuples en-masse would be straightforward:
foreach (var x in listOfValueTuples) { x.Foo = 103; } // wont even compile because x is a value (struct) not a variable
var d = listOfValueTuples[0].Foo;
Someone might try to workaround this like so:
// initially *.Foo = 10 for all items
listOfValueTuples.Select(x => x.Foo = 103);
var d = listOfValueTuples[0].Foo; // 'd' should be 103 right? wrong! it is '10'
The reason for this quirky behavior is that the value-tuples are exactly value-based (structs) and thus the .Select(...) call works on cloned-structs rather than on the originals. To resolve this we must resort to:
// initially *.Foo = 10 for all items
listOfValueTuples = listOfValueTuples
.Select(x => {
x.Foo = 103;
return x;
})
.ToList();
var d = listOfValueTuples[0].Foo; // 'd' is now 103 indeed
Alternatively of course one might try the straightforward approach:
for (var i = 0; i < listOfValueTuples.Length; i++) {
listOfValueTuples[i].Foo = 103; //this works just fine
// another alternative approach:
//
// var x = listOfValueTuples[i];
// x.Foo = 103;
// listOfValueTuples[i] = x; //<-- vital for this alternative approach to work if you omit this changes wont be saved to the original list
}
var d = listOfValueTuples[0].Foo; // 'd' is now 103 indeed
Hope this helps someone struggling to make heads of tails out of list-hosted value-tuples.

What's the difference between System.ValueTuple and System.Tuple?

I decompiled some C# 7 libraries and saw ValueTuple generics being used. What are ValueTuples and why not Tuple instead?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/dotnet/api/system.tuple
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/dotnet/api/system.valuetuple
What are ValueTuples and why not Tuple instead?
A ValueTuple is a struct which reflects a tuple, same as the original System.Tuple class.
The main difference between Tuple and ValueTuple are:
System.ValueTuple is a value type (struct), while System.Tuple is a reference type (class). This is meaningful when talking about allocations and GC pressure.
System.ValueTuple isn't only a struct, it's a mutable one, and one has to be careful when using them as such. Think what happens when a class holds a System.ValueTuple as a field.
System.ValueTuple exposes its items via fields instead of properties.
Until C# 7, using tuples wasn't very convenient. Their field names are Item1, Item2, etc, and the language hadn't supplied syntax sugar for them like most other languages do (Python, Scala).
When the .NET language design team decided to incorporate tuples and add syntax sugar to them at the language level an important factor was performance. With ValueTuple being a value type, you can avoid GC pressure when using them because (as an implementation detail) they'll be allocated on the stack.
Additionally, a struct gets automatic (shallow) equality semantics by the runtime, where a class doesn't. Although the design team made sure there will be an even more optimized equality for tuples, hence implemented a custom equality for it.
Here is a paragraph from the design notes of Tuples:
Struct or Class:
As mentioned, I propose to make tuple types structs rather than
classes, so that no allocation penalty is associated with them. They
should be as lightweight as possible.
Arguably, structs can end up being more costly, because assignment
copies a bigger value. So if they are assigned a lot more than they
are created, then structs would be a bad choice.
In their very motivation, though, tuples are ephemeral. You would use
them when the parts are more important than the whole. So the common
pattern would be to construct, return and immediately deconstruct
them. In this situation structs are clearly preferable.
Structs also have a number of other benefits, which will become
obvious in the following.
Examples:
You can easily see that working with System.Tuple becomes ambiguous very quickly. For example, say we have a method which calculates a sum and a count of a List<Int>:
public Tuple<int, int> DoStuff(IEnumerable<int> values)
{
var sum = 0;
var count = 0;
foreach (var value in values) { sum += value; count++; }
return new Tuple(sum, count);
}
On the receiving end, we end up with:
Tuple<int, int> result = DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
// What is Item1 and what is Item2?
// Which one is the sum and which is the count?
Console.WriteLine(result.Item1);
Console.WriteLine(result.Item2);
The way you can deconstruct value tuples into named arguments is the real power of the feature:
public (int sum, int count) DoStuff(IEnumerable<int> values)
{
var res = (sum: 0, count: 0);
foreach (var value in values) { res.sum += value; res.count++; }
return res;
}
And on the receiving end:
var result = DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
Console.WriteLine($"Sum: {result.sum}, Count: {result.count}");
Or:
var (sum, count) = DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
Console.WriteLine($"Sum: {sum}, Count: {count}");
Compiler goodies:
If we look under the cover of our previous example, we can see exactly how the compiler is interpreting ValueTuple when we ask it to deconstruct:
[return: TupleElementNames(new string[] {
"sum",
"count"
})]
public ValueTuple<int, int> DoStuff(IEnumerable<int> values)
{
ValueTuple<int, int> result;
result..ctor(0, 0);
foreach (int current in values)
{
result.Item1 += current;
result.Item2++;
}
return result;
}
public void Foo()
{
ValueTuple<int, int> expr_0E = this.DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
int item = expr_0E.Item1;
int arg_1A_0 = expr_0E.Item2;
}
Internally, the compiled code utilizes Item1 and Item2, but all of this is abstracted away from us since we work with a decomposed tuple. A tuple with named arguments gets annotated with the TupleElementNamesAttribute. If we use a single fresh variable instead of decomposing, we get:
public void Foo()
{
ValueTuple<int, int> valueTuple = this.DoStuff(Enumerable.Range(0, 10));
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Sum: {0}, Count: {1})", valueTuple.Item1, valueTuple.Item2));
}
Note that the compiler still has to make some magic happen (via the attribute) when we debug our application, as it would be odd to see Item1, Item2.
The difference between Tuple and ValueTuple is that Tuple is a reference type and ValueTuple is a value type. The latter is desirable because changes to the language in C# 7 have tuples being used much more frequently, but allocating a new object on the heap for every tuple is a performance concern, particularly when it's unnecessary.
However, in C# 7, the idea is that you never have to explicitly use either type because of the syntax sugar being added for tuple use. For example, in C# 6, if you wanted to use a tuple to return a value, you would have to do the following:
public Tuple<string, int> GetValues()
{
// ...
return new Tuple(stringVal, intVal);
}
var value = GetValues();
string s = value.Item1;
However, in C# 7, you can use this:
public (string, int) GetValues()
{
// ...
return (stringVal, intVal);
}
var value = GetValues();
string s = value.Item1;
You can even go a step further and give the values names:
public (string S, int I) GetValues()
{
// ...
return (stringVal, intVal);
}
var value = GetValues();
string s = value.S;
... Or deconstruct the tuple entirely:
public (string S, int I) GetValues()
{
// ...
return (stringVal, intVal);
}
var (S, I) = GetValues();
string s = S;
Tuples weren't often used in C# pre-7 because they were cumbersome and verbose, and only really used in cases where building a data class/struct for just a single instance of work would be more trouble than it was worth. But in C# 7, tuples have language-level support now, so using them is much cleaner and more useful.
I looked at the source for both Tuple and ValueTuple. The difference is that Tuple is a class and ValueTuple is a struct that implements IEquatable.
That means that Tuple == Tuple will return false if they are not the same instance, but ValueTuple == ValueTuple will return true if they are of the same type and Equals returns true for each of the values they contain.
In addition to the comments above, one unfortunate gotcha of ValueTuple is that, as a value type, the named arguments get erased when compiled to IL, so they're not available for serialisation at runtime.
i.e. Your sweet named arguments will still end up as "Item1", "Item2", etc. when serialised via e.g. Json.NET.
Other answers forgot to mention important points.Instead of rephrasing, I'm gonna reference the XML documentation from source code:
The ValueTuple types (from arity 0 to 8) comprise the runtime implementation that underlies
tuples in C# and struct tuples in F#.
Aside from created via language syntax, they are most easily created via the
ValueTuple.Create factory methods.
The System.ValueTuple types differ from the System.Tuple types in that:
they are structs rather than classes,
they are mutable rather than readonly, and
their members (such as Item1, Item2, etc) are fields rather than properties.
With introduction of this type and C# 7.0 compiler, you can easily write
(int, string) idAndName = (1, "John");
And return two values from a method:
private (int, string) GetIdAndName()
{
//.....
return (id, name);
}
Contrary to System.Tuple you can update its members (Mutable) because they are public read-write Fields that can be given meaningful names:
(int id, string name) idAndName = (1, "John");
idAndName.name = "New Name";
Late-joining to add a quick clarification on these two factoids:
they are structs rather than classes
they are mutable rather than readonly
One would think that changing value-tuples en-masse would be straightforward:
foreach (var x in listOfValueTuples) { x.Foo = 103; } // wont even compile because x is a value (struct) not a variable
var d = listOfValueTuples[0].Foo;
Someone might try to workaround this like so:
// initially *.Foo = 10 for all items
listOfValueTuples.Select(x => x.Foo = 103);
var d = listOfValueTuples[0].Foo; // 'd' should be 103 right? wrong! it is '10'
The reason for this quirky behavior is that the value-tuples are exactly value-based (structs) and thus the .Select(...) call works on cloned-structs rather than on the originals. To resolve this we must resort to:
// initially *.Foo = 10 for all items
listOfValueTuples = listOfValueTuples
.Select(x => {
x.Foo = 103;
return x;
})
.ToList();
var d = listOfValueTuples[0].Foo; // 'd' is now 103 indeed
Alternatively of course one might try the straightforward approach:
for (var i = 0; i < listOfValueTuples.Length; i++) {
listOfValueTuples[i].Foo = 103; //this works just fine
// another alternative approach:
//
// var x = listOfValueTuples[i];
// x.Foo = 103;
// listOfValueTuples[i] = x; //<-- vital for this alternative approach to work if you omit this changes wont be saved to the original list
}
var d = listOfValueTuples[0].Foo; // 'd' is now 103 indeed
Hope this helps someone struggling to make heads of tails out of list-hosted value-tuples.

Performing function on each array element, returning results to new array

I'm a complete Linq newbie here, so forgive me for a probably quite simple question.
I want to perform an operation on every element in an array, and return the result of each of these operations to a new array.
For example, say I have an array or numbers and a function ToWords() that converts the numbers to their word equivalents, I want to be able to pass in the numbers array, perform the ToWords() operation on each element, and pass out a string[]
I know it's entirely possible in a slightly more verbose way, but in my Linq adventures I'm wondering if it's doable in a nice one-liner.
You can use Select() to transform one sequence into another one, and ToArray() to create an array from the result:
int[] numbers = { 1, 2, 3 };
string[] strings = numbers.Select(x => ToWords(x)).ToArray();
It's pretty straight forward. Just use the Select method:
var results = array.Select(ToWords).ToArray();
Note that unless you need an array you don't have to call ToArray. Most of the time you can use lazy evaluation on an IEnumerable<string> just as easily.
There are two different approaches - you can use Select extension method or you can use select clause:
var numbers = new List<int>();
var strings1 = from num in numbers select ToWords(num);
var strings2 = numbers.Select(ToWords);
both of them will return IEnumerable<>, which you can cast as you need (for example, with .ToArray() or .ToList()).
You could do something like this :
public static string[] ProcessStrings(int[] intList)
{
return Array.ConvertAll<int, string>(intList, new Converter<int, string>(
delegate(int number)
{
return ToWords();
}));
}
If it is a list then :
public static List<string> ProcessStrings(List<int> intList)
{
return intList.ConvertAll<string>(new Converter<int, string>(
delegate(int number)
{
return ToWords();
}));
}
Straight simple:
string[] wordsArray = array.ToList().ConvertAll(n => ToWords(n)).ToArray();
If you are OK with Lists, rather than arrays, you can skip ToList() and ToArray().
Lists are much more flexible than arrays, I see no reason on earth not to use them, except for specific cases.

List, not lose the reference

Back from interview. I share with you and a good and precise answer is welcome.
The purpose, you have a static method, this method receive an IList<int> you have
to get back the values you can divise by 3 and make the code.
Constraint :
The original list (in the main) has a reference on the stack and the values on the heap,
the result must be return (it's a void method) in the same space (on the heap) than the original list. The solution show here is not correct because in the method a new pointer
on the stack + heap are created in the method domain. Solution ?
Bonus : how change the code to receive not only int but float, double, ....
static void Main(string[] args)
{
IList<int> list = new List<int>() { 9, 3, 10, 6, 14, 16, 20};
CanBeDivedByThree(list);
}
static void CanBeDivedByThree(IList<int> list)
{
list = (from p in list
where p % 3 == 0
orderby p descending
select p).ToList<int>();
}
That's meaningless as the internal storage to an IList is not under your control. Adding (or possibly removing) items might re-allocate the internal data structures.
It is especially meaningless as the list in your sample contains value types which are copied anyway when you access them.
Last but not least it's basically the whole point of using a managed language that you don't have to worry about memory (al)locations. Such things are implementation details of the platform.
To take up on your bonus question: There is no simple way to achieve that. One could think that using generics with a type constraint would solve the problem here (something like static void CanBeDivedByThree<T>(IList<T> list) where T : struct), but the problem is that C# does not (yet?) have support for generic arithmetic. C# doesn't have a modulo operator that can take a generic parameter of type 'T' and 'int'.
list.RemoveAll(n => n % 3 == 0);
or
for (int i = list.Count - 1; i >= 0; --i)
{
if (list[i] % 3 != 0)
list.RemoveAt(i);
}
The first approach works only for List<T>.
One could make it a template method, but remainder operation doesn't make much sense on floats.
Unfortunately only List but not IList does implement RemoveAll. So I first implement it as an extension method.
public static int RemoveAll<T>(this IList<T> list, Predicate<T> match)
{
if (match == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("match");
int destIndex=0;
int srcIndex;
for(srcIndex=0;srcIndex<list.Count;srcIndex++)
{
if(!match(list[srcIndex]))
{
//if(srcIndex!=destIndex)//Small optimization, can be left out
list[destIndex]=list[srcIndex];
destIndex++;
}
}
for(int removeIndex=list.Count-1;removeIndex>=destIndex;removeIndex--)
{
list.RemoveAt(removeIndex);
}
return srcIndex-destIndex;
}
Then you can use:
list.RemoveAll(n => n % 3 != 0);
You can then use overloads for other types. Unfortunately you can't (easily) make it generic since generics don't work with operator overloading.
Others have covered the list part - this is just for the bonus bit.
You can't do this in a statically typed way using C# generics, but if you're using C# 4 you can do it with dynamic typing. For example:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class Test
{
static void Main()
{
ShowDivisibleBy3(new List<int> { 1, 3, 6, 7, 9 });
ShowDivisibleBy3(new List<decimal> { 1.5m, 3.3m, 6.0m, 7m, 9.00m });
}
static void ShowDivisibleBy3<T>(IEnumerable<T> source)
{
foreach (dynamic item in source)
{
if (item % 3 == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine(item);
}
}
}
}

How to get the sum of list of shorts using the extension method Sum()?

I was trying to do something like this -
List<short> listofshorts= new List<short>();
int s = listofshorts.Sum();
//this does not work...but same code works for a list of ints..
I got this compilation error -
'System.Collections.Generic.List' does not contain a definition for 'Sum' and the best extension method overload 'System.Linq.Queryable.Sum(System.Linq.IQueryable)' has some invalid arguments
Can anyone suggest how can I use an extension method to calculate the sum of shorts? For some reason the extension method does not support it ...
int s = listofshorts.Sum(d => d);
You can provide the lambda for the method:
List<short> listofshorts= new List<short>();
int s = listofshorts.Sum(a => (int)a);
// This throws an InvalidCastException in .NET 3.5 SP1+
// DO NOT USE THIS CODE
listOfShorts.Cast<int>().Sum();
In the interest of posterity, and pointing out this seemingly obvious solution doesn't work - I'm going to leave this answer with the following links about .NET 3.5 SP1+ behavior:
Puzzling Enumerable.Cast InvalidCastException
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dinesh.kulkarni/archive/2008/08/10/net-fx-3-5-sp1-two-perf-improvements-linq-to-objects-and-linq-to-sql.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ed_maurer/archive/2008/02/16/breaking-change-in-linq-queries-using-explicitly-typed-range-variables.aspx
You could do
int s = listofshorts.Aggregate((i1,i2) => i1+i2);
Like the others have suggested, you will need to cast the short objects to a type which is supported by the Enumerable.Sum method. Unfortunately there are no overloaded Sum method for some of the types like ulong, etc.
If you're gonna be needing it very often though, I'd recommend writing an extension method yourself, here's one I did a while back for ulong and ulong?, you can do something very similar for short or any other types you need:
public static ulong Sum(this IEnumerable<ulong> source)
{
var sum = 0UL;
foreach (var number in source)
{
sum += number;
}
return sum;
}
public static ulong? Sum(this IEnumerable<ulong?> source)
{
var sum = 0UL;
foreach (var nullable in source)
{
if (nullable.HasValue)
{
sum += nullable.GetValueOrDefault();
}
}
return sum;
}
P.S. my implementations are based on the Enumerable.Sum implementation after I took a peek with reflector purely out of curiosity :-P
I would probably chose the .ForEach() extension, you don't need any casting here
short sum = 0;
myListOfShort.ForEach(val => sum += val)

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