LINQ improvements in .NET 6

The Default Value for *OrDefault Methods

The Enumerable.FirstOrDefault method returns the first element of a sequence, or a default value if no element is found. In .NET 6, you can override the default value. You can override the default value also for SingleOrDefault and LastOrDefault methods.

List<int> list1 = new() { 1, 2, 3 };
int item1 = list1.FirstOrDefault(i => i == 4, -1);
Console.WriteLine(item1); // -1

List<string> list2 = new() { "Item1" };
string item2 = list2.SingleOrDefault(i => i == "Item2", "Not found");
Console.WriteLine(item2); // Not found

New *By Methods

.NET 6 introduces the new _Enumerable._By* methods. A 'keySelector' is provided to compare elements by.

New methods:

• MinBy
• MaxBy
• DistinctBy
• ExceptBy
• IntersectBy
• UnionBy

List<Product> products = new()
{
    new() { Name = "Product1", Price = 100 },
    new() { Name = "Product2", Price = 5 },
    new() { Name = "Product3", Price = 50 },
};

Product theCheapestProduct = products.MinBy(x => x.Price);
Product theMostExpensiveProduct = products.MaxBy(x => x.Price);
Console.WriteLine(theCheapestProduct);
// Output: Product { Name = Product2, Price = 5 }
Console.WriteLine(theMostExpensiveProduct);
// Output: Product { Name = Product1, Price = 100 }

record Product
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public decimal Price { get; set; }
}

A new Chunk Method

If you need to split elements of a sequence into chunks, you don't have to implement it on your own anymore in .NET 6. It introduces a new Enumerable.Chunk extension method.

IEnumerable<int> numbers = Enumerable.Range(1, 505);
IEnumerable<int[]> chunks = numbers.Chunk(100);

foreach (int[] chunk in chunks)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{chunk.First()}...{chunk.Last()}");
}

// Output:
// 1...100
// 101...200
// 201...300
// 301...400
// 401...500
// 501...505

Three-way Zip Method

The Enumerable.Zip extension method produces a sequence of tuples with elements from two specified sequences. In .NET 6, it can combine tuples from three sequences.

It cannot combine tuples from four and more sequences.

int[] numbers = { 1, 2, 3, 4, };
string[] months = { "Jan", "Feb", "Mar" };
string[] seasons = { "Winter", "Winter", "Spring" };

var test = numbers.Zip(months).Zip(seasons);

foreach ((int, string, string) zipped in numbers.Zip(months, seasons))
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{zipped.Item1} {zipped.Item2} {zipped.Item3}");
}
// Output:
// 1 Jan Winter
// 2 Feb Winter
// 3 Mar Spring

Index Support in the ElementAt Method

.NET Core 3.0 has introduced the Index struct, which is used by the C# compiler to support a new unary prefix "hat" operator (^). It means index "from the end" of collection. In .NET 6, Enumerable.ElementAt method supports the Index.

IEnumerable<int> numbers = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
int last = numbers.ElementAt(^0);
Console.WriteLine(last); // 5

Range Support in the Take Method

The Range struct has been introduced in the .NET Core 3.0. It is used by the C# compiler to support a range operator '..'

In .NET 6, the Enumerable.Take method supports the Range.

IEnumerable<int> numbers = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };

IEnumerable<int> taken1 = numbers.Take(2..4);
foreach (int i in taken1)
    Console.WriteLine(i);
// Output:
// 3
// 4

IEnumerable<int> taken2 = numbers.Take(..3);
foreach (int i in taken2)
    Console.WriteLine(i);
// Output:
// 1
// 2
// 3

IEnumerable<int> taken3 = numbers.Take(3..);
foreach (int i in taken3)
    Console.WriteLine(i);
// Output:
// 4
// 5

Avoiding Enumeration with TryGetNonEnumeratedCount

.NET 6 introduces a new Enumerable.TryGetNonEnumerated method. It attempts to determine the number of elements in a sequence without forcing an enumeration. It's useful for IQueryable, when calling Enumerable.Count you don't want to evaluate the entire query.

IEnumerable<int> numbers = GetNumbers();
TryGetNonEnumeratedCount(numbers);
// Output: Could not get a count of numbers without enumerating the sequence 

IEnumerable<int> enumeratedNumbers = numbers.ToList();

var test = enumeratedNumbers.ElementAt(-1);

TryGetNonEnumeratedCount(enumeratedNumbers);
// Output: Count: 5

void TryGetNonEnumeratedCount(IEnumerable<int> numbers)
{
    if (numbers.TryGetNonEnumeratedCount(out int count))
        Console.WriteLine($"Count: {count}");
    else
        Console.WriteLine("Could not get a count of numbers without enumerating the sequence");
}

IEnumerable<int> GetNumbers()
{
    yield return 1;
    yield return 2;
    yield return 3;
    yield return 4;
    yield return 5;
}

Wrapping Up

All code samples you can find on my GitHub.