Common elements. A List contains many elements in a C# program, but some may be duplicated. We can compute which ones are the most common, and which ones are the least common.
Using Dictionary, we can loop through our string List and keep track of how many times each element occurs. This is fast—the Dictionary has constant time lookup for each element.
In this program, we create a string List from a string array. Notice how there are some values, like "bird," that occur more than once in the string array.
Info GetFrequencies() loops through the string List elements with foreach. It uses TryGetValue on a Dictionary to maintain counts.
Tip The Dictionary has string keys and int values. So for each instance of "bird" we maintain a separate count int.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Compute frequencies for this data.
string[] values = { "bird", "cat", "bird", "dog", "bird", "man", "frog", "cat" };
// Get a list.
List<string> valuesList = new List<string>(values);
// Call our methods.
var freqs = GetFrequencies(valuesList);
DisplaySortedFrequencies(freqs);
}
static Dictionary<string, int> GetFrequencies(List<string> values)
{
var result = new Dictionary<string, int>();
foreach (string value in values)
{
if (result.TryGetValue(value, out int count))
{
// Increase existing value.
result[value] = count + 1;
}
else
{
// New value, set to 1.
result.Add(value, 1);
}
}
// Return the dictionary.
return result;
}
static void DisplaySortedFrequencies(Dictionary<string, int> frequencies)
{
// Order pairs in dictionary from high to low frequency.
var sorted = from pair in frequencies
orderby pair.Value descending
select pair;
// Display all results in order.
foreach (var pair in sorted)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{pair.Key} = {pair.Value}");
}
}
}bird = 3
cat = 2
dog = 1
man = 1
frog = 1
Notes, DisplaySortedFrequencies. Consider now the DisplaySortedFrequencies method. We use a LINQ expression to sort the Dictionary we created previously.
And We sort in descending order, so the most frequent strings (like "bird") are placed first in the resulting IOrderedEnumerable.
Results, summary. We find that our results indicate the string "bird" occurs 3 times. This approach works not just for string keys, but any sort of key (including ints).
Dot Net Perls is a collection of tested code examples. Pages are continually updated to stay current, with code correctness a top priority.
Sam Allen is passionate about computer languages. In the past, his work has been recommended by Apple and Microsoft and he has studied computers at a selective university in the United States.
This page was last updated on Sep 14, 2023 (edit).