Add items to a list using an extension method in C# 6

C# 6 introduces a new way of filling up collections with objects.

Consider the following Rockband class:

public class Rockband
{
	public string Name { get; }
	public int NumberOfMembers { get; }

	public Rockband(string name, int numberOfMembers)
	{
		Name = name;
		NumberOfMembers = numberOfMembers;
	}
}

Next we want to build a list of rockbands and add a couple of items to it during initialisation:

List<Rockband> rockbands = new List<Rockband>()
{
	new Rockband("Queen", 4),
	new Rockband("Genesis", 5),
	new Rockband("Metallica", 4)
};

That should be pretty straightforward.

We can make that code shorter and adding the items less tedious by an extension method on a List of Rockband objects. The extension method must be called “Add” and must accept the input parameters necessary for object construction:

public static class Extensions
{
	public static void Add(this List<Rockband> rockbands, string name, int numberOfMembers)
	{
		rockbands.Add(new Rockband(name, numberOfMembers));
	}
}

The list initialisation can now be shortened to the following:

List<Rockband> rockbands2 = new List<Rockband>()
{
	{ "Queen", 4 },
	{ "Genesis", 5 },
	{ "Metallica", 4 }
};

We can even use the Add method to filter out unwanted elements. Let’s say that we only accept rock bands with at least 5 members:

public static class Extensions
{
	public static void Add(this List<Rockband> rockbands, string name, int numberOfMembers)
	{
		if (numberOfMembers > 4)
		{
			rockbands.Add(new Rockband(name, numberOfMembers));
		}
	}
}

Only Genesis will be added to the list in this case. Mind you, we’re talking about the original 5-man line-up, not the more modern one with only 3.

View all various C# language feature related posts here.