out-parameter

C# – Get dictionary key by value

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Dictionaries have keys mapped to values, which enables you to efficiently lookup values by key. But you can also do a reverse lookup: get the key associated with a value. The simplest option is to use FirstOrDefault(), but that’s only a good idea if you know the value exists for sure. Instead, the best option … Read more

C# – Check if key exists in dictionary

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When you want to check if a key exists, use Dictionary.ContainsKey(). This returns true if the key exists and otherwise returns false. Here’s an example: This initializes the dictionary with a few items and then checks if one of the key exists. This outputs: Usually you’ll want to do something based on if the key … Read more

C# – Update value in a dictionary

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After you add a key/value pair to a dictionary, you can update the value for the key by using the indexer syntax (i.e. dictionary[key]=value), like this: This outputs the updated value for the ‘Bob’ key: The indexer syntax inserts if the key doesn’t exist -or- updates the value if the key already exists. This means … Read more

C# – Get value from dictionary

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Dictionaries store key/value pairs. When you want to get the value for a key, you can use the indexer syntax and specify the key, like this: Note: In order to show how to get a value, I had to initialize the dictionary with key/value pairs. This returns the value associated with the “Bob” key and … Read more

C# – Add to a dictionary

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The simplest way to add a key/value pair to a dictionary is by using Dictionary.Add(), like this: If the key already exists, Dictionary.Add() throws an ArgumentException because the key must be unique. There are a few other ways to add to a dictionary in different scenarios, which I’ll explain below. Add or update key/value in … Read more

C# – How to convert char to int

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Converting a char to an int means getting the numeric value that the char represents (i.e. ‘1’ to 1). This is not the same as casting the char to an int, which gives you the char’s underlying value (i.e. ‘1’ is 49). There are three ways to convert a char to an int: I’ll show … Read more

C# – Convert string list to int list

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You can convert a list of strings to a list of integers by using int.Parse() on all of the strings. There are two simple ways to do this: I’ll show examples of these using these methods and then explain how to handle parsing exceptions. Option 1 – Use List.ConvertAll() Here’s an example of how to … Read more

C# – How to deconstruct an object

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Deconstructing an object means assigning its properties to several variables with a one-liner using deconstruction assignment syntax (also referred to as destructuring or unpacking). Here’s an example of deconstructing an object: This outputs the following: Several built-in types already support deconstruction – such as tuples, dictionary (KeyValuePair), and records. You can enable deconstruction for any … Read more

C# – How to use TimeZoneInfo

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Time zones are complicated and their rules can change, so it makes sense to use a library when you’re dealing with them. One option in .NET is to use the built-in TimeZoneInfo class. Here’s an example of using TimeZoneInfo to get the local system’s time zone: This outputs: Note: The display name always show the … Read more

C# – Check if an IP range is valid

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Given an IP range as a starting IP address and an ending IP address (as strings, like from user input or a config file), you can check if the IP range is valid by doing the following steps: Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re given starting IP “192.168.0.1” and ending “192.168.0.11”. The following table shows … Read more