C# 5.0 in a Nutshell, 5th Edition

Chapter 7. Collections

The .NET Framework provides a standard set of types for storing and managing collections of objects. These include resizable lists, linked lists, sorted and unsorted dictionaries as well as arrays. Of these, only arrays form part of the C# language; the remaining collections are just classes you instantiate like any other.

The types in the Framework for collections can be divided into the following categories:

• Interfaces that define standard collection protocols

• Ready-to-use collection classes (lists, dictionaries, etc.)

• Base classes for writing application-specific collections

This chapter covers each of these categories, with an additional section on the types used in determining element equality and order.

The collection namespaces are as follows:

Namespace	Contains
System.Collections	Nongeneric collection classes and interfaces
System.Collections.Specialized	Strongly typed nongeneric collection classes
System.Collections.Generic	Generic collection classes and interfaces
System.Collections.ObjectModel	Proxies and bases for custom collections
System.Collections.Concurrent	Thread-safe collections (see Chapter 23)

Enumeration

In computing, there are many different kinds of collections ranging from simple data structures, such as arrays or linked lists, to more complex ones, such as red/black trees and hashtables. Although the internal implementation and external characteristics of these data structures vary widely, the ability to traverse the contents of the collection is an ...