LINQ Union, Intersect, Except methods Example.
Here we learn how to use LINQ Union, intersect, except in linq query, union method is used for combining two or more list object query, using except we can eliminate some elements based on some conditions.
Union is an extension method to merge two collections, After merging new collection holds the distinct values from both the collections
Let's look at some example
IEnumerable<string> countries = new List<string> { "India", "USA", "UK", "Canada", "Australia","UAE" };
IEnumerable<string> countries1 = new List<string> { "Srilanka", "Germany", "France", "Singapore", "UAE" };
IEnumerable<string> allCountries = countries.Union(countries1);
Using Union, Intersect, Except In LINQ
Now in above two lists we have "UAE" repeated, but after union in new list there will be only one "UAE".
Let's check the list
foreach (var c in allCountries)
{
Console.WriteLine(c);
}
Now if you have complex object type, where you want to use Union, then the above example may not give you right result, you need to use IEqualityComparer
Here we implement IEqualityComparer for complex object type Teacher
class TeacherComparer : IEqualityComparer<Teacher>
{
public bool Equals(Teacher t, Teacher t1)
{
if (t.teacherId == t1.teacherId && t.City.ToLower() == t1.City.ToLower())
return true;
return false;
}
public int GetHashCode(Teacher obj)
{
return obj.teacherId.GetHashCode();
}
}
Let's create two list of complex object type Teacher with some data
IList<Teacher> teacherList1 = new List<Teacher>() {
new Teacher() { teacherId = 1, FullName = "Venkatesh", City = "Bangalore"} ,
new Teacher() { teacherId = 2, FullName = "Arunava", City = "Kolkata"} ,
new Teacher() { teacherId = 3, FullName = "Akansha", City = "Kolkata"} ,
new Teacher() { teacherId = 5, FullName = "Simon" , City = "New Jersy" }
};
IList<Teacher> teacherList2 = new List<Teacher>() {
new Teacher() { teacherId = 6, FullName = "Monica", City = "Kolkata"} ,
new Teacher() { teacherId = 2, FullName = "Arunava", City = "Kolkata"} ,
new Teacher() { teacherId = 7, FullName = "Janet", City = "New Jersy"} ,
new Teacher() { teacherId = 8, FullName = "Mellisa" , City = "New York" }
};
Now we use the above IEqualityComparer class TeacherComparer, we pass the TeacherComparer class in Union extension method.
var allTeachers = teacherList1.Union(teacherList2, new TeacherComparer());
foreach (var c in allTeachers)
{
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0}-{1}", c.FullName, c.City));
}
In above example I have used foreach loop to read each item value from collection, simply you also can check the count to see the number of elements in list after using union method.
