C# filter list

last modified October 23, 2020

C# filter list tutorial shows how to filter a list in C#. C# tutorial is a comprehensive tutorial on C# language.

This tutorial shows several ways to filter a list in C# language. We use iteration, LINQ, and built-in FindAll method.

C# filter list with iteration

In the first example, we use a foreach loop to filter a list.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;


var words = new List<string> { "sky", "rock", "forest", "new",
    "falcon", "jewelry" };

var filtered = new List<string>();

foreach (var word in words)
{
    if (word.Length == 3)
    {
        filtered.Add(word);
    }
}

Console.WriteLine(string.Join(',', filtered));

The example filters out all words that have three characters.

var words = new List<string> { "sky", "rock", "forest", "new",
    "falcon", "jewelry" };

We have a list of words. The goal is to find out all words with three letters.

var filtered = new List<string>();

A new filtered list is created. All the words that match the condition will be added to the list.

foreach (var word in words)
{
    if (word.Length == 3)
    {
        filtered.Add(word);
    }
}

We go over the list of words in a foreach loop. All words that match the if condition are added to the filtered list.

Console.WriteLine(string.Join(',', filtered));

We show the contents of the filtered list to the console.

$ dotnet run
sky,new

This is the output.

C# filter list with FindAll

In the following example, we filter a list with the built-in FindAll method.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

var vals = new List<int> {-1, -3, 0, 1, 3, 2, 9, -4};

List<int> filtered = vals.FindAll(e => e > 0);

Console.WriteLine(string.Join(',', filtered));

The example finds out all integer values that are greater than zero.

List<int> filtered = vals.FindAll(e => e > 0);

The FindAll method retrieves all the elements that match the conditions defined by the specified predicate.

$ dotnet run
1,3,2,9

This is the output.

C# filter list with LINQ query expression

The following example uses a LINQ query expression to filter a list.

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;


var words = new List<string> { "sky", "rock", "forest", "new",
        "falcon", "jewelry" };

var query = from word in words
            where word.Length == 3
            select word;

foreach (var word in query)
{
    Console.WriteLine(word);
}

The example selects all words that have three characters.

C# filter list with LINQ Where

The next example filters a list with LINQ's Where method.

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;

var vals = new List<int> {-1, -3, 0, 1, 3, 2, 9, -4};

List<int> filtered = vals.Where(x => x > 0).ToList();

Console.WriteLine(string.Join(',', filtered));

The example filters out all positive values.

List<int> filtered = vals.Where(x => x > 0).ToList();

The Where method filters a sequence of values based on a predicate.

C# filter a list of objects

In the following example we filter a list of car objects with a LINQ query expression.

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;


var cars = new List<Car>
{
    new Car("Audi", 52642),
    new Car("Mercedes", 57127),
    new Car("Skoda", 9000),
    new Car("Volvo", 29000),
    new Car("Bentley", 350000),
    new Car("Citroen", 21000),
    new Car("Hummer", 41400),
    new Car("Volkswagen", 21601)
};

foreach (var car in from car in cars
                    where car.Price > 9000 && car.Price < 50000
                    select new { car.Name, car.Price })
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{car.Name} {car.Price}");
}

record Car(string Name, int Price);

The example selects all cars whose price is between 9000 and 50000.

$ dotnet run
Volvo 29000
Citroen 21000
Hummer 41400
Volkswagen 21600

These cars satisfy the specified condition.

In this tutorial, we have showed how to filter a list in C#.

Read C# tutorial or list all C# tutorials.