学ぶ List Methods | Data Structures & File Handling

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In this chapter we will look at some useful list methods.

Remove()

The Remove method removes the first instance of an element from a list.

Syntax:

exampleList.remove(targetElement);

index.cs


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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<string> fruits = new List<string> { "Apple", "Banana", "Orange", "Banana", "Grape" };

            Console.Write("Before: ");
            foreach (string fruit in fruits)
            {
                Console.Write(fruit + " ");
            }

            fruits.Remove("Banana");

            Console.Write("\nAfter: ");
            foreach (string fruit in fruits)
            {
                Console.Write(fruit + " ");
            }
        }
    }
}

In case no such element is found, it simply doesn't do anything.

index.cs


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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<string> fruits = new List<string> { "Apple", "Banana", "Orange", "Banana", "Grape" };

            Console.Write("Before: ");
            foreach (string fruit in fruits)
            {
                Console.Write(fruit + " ");
            }

            fruits.Remove("some element"); // trying to remove an unknown element

            Console.Write("\nAfter: ");
            foreach (string fruit in fruits)
            {
                Console.Write(fruit + " ");
            }
        }
    }
}

RemoveAt()

The RemoveAt method removes an element at a specific index.

Syntax:

exampleList.RemoveAt(index);

index.cs


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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<string> fruits = new List<string> { "Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Grape" };

            Console.Write("Before: ");
            foreach (string fruit in fruits)
            {
                Console.Write(fruit + " ");
            }

            fruits.RemoveAt(1);

            Console.Write("\nAfter: ");
            foreach (string fruit in fruits)
            {
                Console.Write(fruit + " ");
            }
        }
    }
}

Clear

The Clear method simply removes all elements from a list. It takes no arguments.

Syntax:

exampleList.Clear();

index.cs


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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<string> fruits = new List<string> { "Apple", "Orange", "Banana", "Grape" };

            Console.Write("Before: ");
            foreach (string fruit in fruits)
            {
                Console.Write(fruit + " ");
            }

            fruits.Clear();

            Console.Write("\nAfter: ");
            foreach (string fruit in fruits)
            {
                Console.Write(fruit + " ");
            }
        }
    }
}

Insert

The Insert method inserts an element in the list at a specified index.

Syntax:

exampleList.Insert(index, elementToInsert);

index.cs


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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<int> numbers = new List<int> { 2, 4, 6, 10, 12 };

            Console.Write("Before: ");
            foreach (int number in numbers)
                Console.Write(number + " ");

            numbers.Insert(3, 8);

            Console.Write("\nAfter: ");
            foreach (int number in numbers)
                Console.Write(number + " ");
        }
    }
}

We can omit the curly braces {} in case there's only a single statement inside an if-condition, a for-loop, or a foreach loop.

index.cs


              123
            
foreach(int number in numbers) {
    Console.Write(number + " ");
}

The above snippet is the same as:

index.cs


              12
            
foreach(int number in numbers)
    Console.Write(number + " ");

If there's already an element at the specified index, it is pushed to the right, and so are the remaining elements of the array after it - in case there are any. The following diagram illustrates the process:

Contains()

The Contains method checks if a list contains a specific element. It returns a boolean value (true or false).

Syntax: exampleList.Contains(element);

index.cs


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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<char> vowels = new List<char> { 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' };
            Console.WriteLine("Contains 'o': " + vowels.Contains('o'));
        }
    }
}

IndexOf()

The IndexOf method returns the index of the first occurrence of an element in a list.

Syntax: exampleList.IndexOf(element);

index.cs


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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<char> vowels = new List<char> { 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' };
            vowels.Remove('o');
            Console.WriteLine("Index of 'o': " + vowels.IndexOf('o'));
        }
    }
}

If the element doesn't exist in the list, it simply returns -1:

The indexOf method is especially useful when you want to access an element by index but you won't know it's index. In the vowels, you want to access the element o by index and change it to capital O:

index.cs


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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<char> vowels = new List<char> { 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' };

            int targetIndex = vowels.IndexOf('o');
            Console.WriteLine(vowels[targetIndex]);

            vowels[targetIndex] = 'O';
            Console.WriteLine(vowels[targetIndex]);
        }
    }
}