We Keep Coding

Can array indexes be named in C#?

I'm wondering if the index of an array can be given a name in C# instead of the default index value. What I'm basically looking for is the C# equivalent of the following PHP code:
$array = array(
"foo" => "some foo value",
"bar" => "some bar value",
);
Cheers.

PHP blends the concept of arrays and the concept of dictionaries (aka hash tables, hash maps, associative arrays) into a single array type.
In .NET and most other programming environments, arrays are always indexed numerically. For named indices, use a dictionary instead:
var dict = new Dictionary<string, string> {
{ "foo", "some foo value" },
{ "bar", "some bar value" }
};
Unlike PHP's associative arrays, dictionaries in .NET are not sorted. If you need a sorted dictionary (but you probably don't), .NET provides a sorted dictionary type.

In an array, no. However, there is the very useful Dictionary class, which is a collection of KeyValuePair objects. It's similar to an array in that it is an iterable collection of objects with keys, but more general in that the key can be any type.
Example:
Dictionary<string, int> HeightInInches = new Dictionary<string, int>();
HeightInInches.Add("Joe", 72);
HeightInInches.Add("Elaine", 60);
HeightInInches.Add("Michael", 59);
foreach(KeyValuePair<string, int> person in HeightInInches)
{
Console.WriteLine(person.Key + " is " + person.Value + " inches tall.");
}
MSDN Documentation for Dictionary<TKey, TValue>

Look at Hashtable in C#. This is the data structure that does what you want in C#.

You could use a Dictionary<string, FooValue> or similar type or collection type or, if you must stick to array, define an Enum with your labels.

C# .NET and direct object collections

Hey all is there a collection type like arrayList which i can add an object to using an ID?
effectively as the title of my post sugests a Direct object collection. so for example:
DirectCollection.addAt(23, someobject);
and
DirectCollection.getAt(23);
etc etc
i know arraylist is usable in that case but i have to generate the initial entry with a null reference object and if if the object has an ID like 23 i have to generate 22 other entries just to add it which is clearly impractical.
basically using the object position value as a unique ID.
Any thoughts?
Many thanks.

You could use Dictionary<int, YourType>
Like this:
var p = new Dictionary<int, YourType>();
p.Add(23, your_object);
YourType object_you_just_added = p[23];

Use a dictionary.
Dictionary<int, YourType>
It allows you to add/get/remove items with a given key and non continuous ranges.

You could use a Dictionary
The code for your example would be very simple:
Dictionary<int, AType> directCollection = new Dictionary<int, AType>();
directCollection.Add(23, someObjectOfAType);
AType anObject = directCollection[23];

I think KeyedCollection or Dictionary is what you need.

Use System.Collections.Hashtable. It allow to store the heterogeneous type of object (a Hashtable can hold the multiple type of object).
Example:
System.Collections.Hashtable keyObjectMap = new System.Collections.Hashtable();
//Add into Hashtable
keyObjectMap["Key_1"] = "First String";
keyObjectMap["Key_2"] = "Second String";
//Add the value type
keyObjectMap["Key_3"] = 1;
keyObjectMap["Key_4"] = new object();
//Get value/object from Hashtable
string value = (string)keyObjectMap["Key_2"];
int intValue = (int)keyObjectMap["Key_3"];

How to create an array with label and not integer

Suppose I have an array of strings like :
myArray["hello", "my", "name", "is", "marco"]
to access to this variable, I have to put an integer as index. So if I wanto to extract the third element I just do :
myArray[2]
Now, I'd like to use label instead of integer.
So for example somethings like :
myArray["canada"]="hello";
myArray["america"]="my";
myArray["brazil"]="name";
myArray["gosaldo"]="is";
myArray["italy"]="marco";
How can I do this on C#? Is it possible? Thanks

That's called an associative array, and C# doesn't support them directly. However, you can achieve exactly the same the effect with a Dictionary<TKey, TValue>. You can add values with the Add method (which will throw an exception if you try to add an already existing key), or with the indexer directly, as below (this will overwrite the existing value if you use the same key twice).
Dictionary<string, string> dict = new Dictionary<string, string>();
dict["canada"] = "hello";
dict["america"] = "my";
dict["brazil"] = "name";
dict["gosaldo"] = "is";
dict["italy"] = "marco";

C# has a Dictionary class (and interface) to deal with this sort of storage. For example:
Dictionary<string, string> dict = new Dictionary<string, string>();
dict.Add("canada", "hello");
dict.Add("america", "my");
dict.Add("brazil", "name");
dict.Add("gosaldo", "is");
Here are the docs: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xfhwa508.aspx

With a Dictionary you will be able to set the "key" for each item as a string, and and give them string "values". For example:
Dictionary<string, string> dic = new Dictionary<string, string>();
dic.Add("canada", "hello");

You're looking for an associative array and I think this question is what you're looking for.

Literal notation for Dictionary in C#?

I currently have a WebSocket between JavaScript and a server programmed in C#. In JavaScript, I can pass data easily using an associative array:
var data = {'test': 'val',
'test2': 'val2'};
To represent this data object on the server side, I use a Dictionary<string, string>, but this is more 'typing-expensive' than in JavaScript:
Dictionary<string, string> data = new Dictionary<string,string>();
data.Add("test", "val");
data.Add("test2", "val2");
Is there some kind of literal notation for associative arrays / Dictionarys in C#?

You use the collection initializer syntax, but you still need to make a new Dictionary<string, string> object first as the shortcut syntax is translated to a bunch of Add() calls (like your code):
var data = new Dictionary<string, string>
{
{ "test", "val" },
{ "test2", "val2" }
};
In C# 6, you now have the option of using a more intuitive syntax with Dictionary as well as any other type that supports indexers. The above statement can be rewritten as:
var data = new Dictionary<string, string>
{
["test"] = "val",
["test2"] = "val2"
};
Unlike collection initializers, this invokes the indexer setter under the hood, rather than an appropriate Add() method.

While, the dictionary initializer answer is totally correct, there is another approach to this that I would point out (but I might not recommend it). If your goal is to provide terse API usage, you could use anonymous objects.
var data = new { test1 = "val", test2 = "val2"};
The "data" variable is then of an "unspeakable" anonymous type, so you could only pass this around as System.Object. You could then write code that can transform an anonymous object into a dictionary. Such code would rely on reflection, which would potentially be slow. However, you could use System.Reflection.Emit, or System.Linq.Expressions to compile and cache a delegate that would make subsequent calls much faster.
Asp.net MVC APIs use this technique in a number of places that I've seen. A lot of the Html Helpers have overloads that accept either an object or a dictionary. I assume the goal of their API design is the same as what you are after; terse syntax at the method call.

Use Dictionary Literals (C#9 proposal) [rejected] or the new syntax (beginning with C#9)
C#9 introduces a simpler syntax to create initialized Dictionary<TKey,TValue> objects without having to specify either the Dictionary type name or the type parameters. The type parameters for the dictionary are inferred using the existing rules used for array type inference.
// C# 1..8
var x = new Dictionary <string,int> () { { "foo", 4 }, { "bar", 5 }};
// C# 9
var x = ["foo":4, "bar": 5];
This synthax makes the work with dictionaries in C# simpler and removing the redundant code.
You can follow the issue on GitHub (and here is the milestone for C#9).
Edit: This proposal is currently rejected:
[...] We think there are a number of interesting use cases around initializing data, particularly for things like immutable dictionaries. We don't find the existing syntax for initializing a dictionary that onerous, nor do we see it as a frequent pattern in code that would benefit much from a language feature. We thing that the general area of initializing data should be looked at again after we do records and withers. [...]
current milestone:
Note that beginning with C# 9.0, constructor invocation expressions are target-typed. That is, if a target type of an expression is known, you can omit a type name, as the following example shows:
Dictionary<int, List<int>> lookup = new()
{
[1] = new() {1, 2, 3},
[2] = new() {5, 8, 3},
[5] = new() {1, 0, 4}
};
As the preceding example shows, you always use parentheses in a target-typed new expression.
If a target type of a new expression is unknown (for example, when you use the var keyword), you must specify a type name.
MSDN

Using DynamicObject, it is not that difficult to create a simpler dictionary initializer.
Imagine you want to call the following method
void PrintDict(IDictionary<string, object> dict) {
foreach(var kv in dict) {
Console.WriteLine (" -> " + kv.Key + " = " + kv.Value);
}
}
using a literal syntax like
var dict = Dict (Hello: "World", IAm: "a dictionary");
PrintDict (dict);
This can be accomplished by creating a dynamic object like this
dynamic Dict {
get {
return new DynamicDictFactory ();
}
}
private class DynamicDictFactory : DynamicObject
{
public override bool TryInvoke (InvokeBinder binder, object[] args, out object result)
{
var res = new Dictionary<string, object> ();
var names = binder.CallInfo.ArgumentNames;
for (var i = 0; i < args.Length; i++) {
var argName = names [i];
if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(argName)) throw new ArgumentException();
res [argName] = args [i];
}
result = res;
return true;
}
}

A dictionary with multiple entries with the same key [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
C# dictionary - one key, many values
(15 answers)
Closed 8 years ago.
I need a Dictionary like object that can store multiple entries with the same key. Is this avaliable as a standard collection, or do I need to roll my own?
To clarify, I want to be able to do something like this:
var dict = new Dictionary<int, String>();
dict.Add(1, "first");
dict.Add(1, "second");
foreach(string x in dict[1])
{
Console.WriteLine(x);
}
Output:
first
second

In .NET 3.5 you can use a Lookup instead of a Dictionary.
var items = new List<KeyValuePair<int, String>>();
items.Add(new KeyValuePair<int, String>(1, "first"));
items.Add(new KeyValuePair<int, String>(1, "second"));
var lookup = items.ToLookup(kvp => kvp.Key, kvp => kvp.Value);
foreach (string x in lookup[1])
{
Console.WriteLine(x);
}
The Lookup class is immutable. If you want a mutable version you can use EditableLookup from MiscUtil.

I would recommend doing something like this:
var dict = new Dictionary<int, HashSet<string>>();
dict.Add(1, new HashSet<string>() { "first", "second" });

Dictionary<T,K> does not support such behavior and there's no collection in the base class library providing such behavior. The easiest way is to construct a composite data structure like this:
var data = new Dictionary<int, List<string>>();
As the second parameter you should use a collection which provides the qualities you are looking for, i.e. stable order ⇒ List<T>, fast access HashSet<T>, etc.

You definitely want to use NameValueCollection:
using System.Collections.Specialized;
NameValueCollection nvc = new NameValueCollection();
nvc.Add("pets", "Dog");
nvc.Add("pets", "Rabbit");
Console.WriteLine(nvc["pets"]);
//returns Dog,Rabbit

What you're looking for isn't actually a Dictionary in the traditional sense (see Associative Array).
There's no class, as far as I'm aware, that offers this in the framework (System.Linq.Lookup doesn't expose a constructor), but you could create a class yourself that implements ILookup<TKey, TElement>

You could perhaps use a Dictionary on your primary key, in which each element is a List or other collection on your secondary key. To add an item to your data structure, see if the primary key exists. If not, create a new single-item list with your Value and store it in the dictionary. If the primary key does exist, add your Value to the list that's in the dictionary.