Get specific property from all items from the list

Question

I have list of Contacts:

public class Contact
{
    private string _firstName;
    private string _lastName;
    private int _age;

    /// <summary>
    /// Constructor
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="fname">Contact's First Name</param>
    /// <param name="lname">Contact's Last Name</param>
    /// <param name="age">Contact's Age</param>
    public Contact(string fname, string lname, int age)
    {
        _firstName = fname;
        _lastName = lname;
        _age = age;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Contact Last Name
    /// </summary>
    public string LastName
    {
        get
        {
            return _lastName;
        }
        set
        {
            _lastName = value;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Contact First Name
    /// </summary>
    public string FirstName
    {
        get
        {
           return _firstName;
        }
        set
        {
            _firstName = value;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Contact Age
    /// </summary>
    public int Age
    {
        get
        {
            return _age;
        }
        set
        {
            _age = value;
        }
    }
}

and here I am creating my list:

private List<Contact> _contactList;
_contactList = new List<Contact>();
_contactList.Add(new Contact("John", "Jackson", 45));
_contactList.Add(new Contact("Jack", "Doe", 20));
_contactList.Add(new Contact("Jassy", "Dol", 19));
_contactList.Add(new Contact("Sam", "Josin", 44));

Right now I am trying to get all the first names of all the contacts in separate list using LINQ.

So far I tried:

    public List<string> FirstNames
    {
        get
        {
           return _contactList.Where(C => C.FirstName.ToList());
        }
    }

Just a note for your accessors in your class, you can simply type public int Age {get; set; } all on one line instead of what you have since you're not performing any other actions in the accessor. It's, obviously, much shorter and easier to read. — sab669
– sab669, Commented Nov 13, 2013 at 19:45
Where is for evaluating a Select condition like: foreach contact where (firstname starts with "J") select (contact) — IAbstract
– IAbstract, Commented Nov 13, 2013 at 19:45

Mike Perrenoud · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-13 19:42:39Z

58

You want to use the Select method, not Where here:

_contactList.Select(C => C.FirstName).ToList();

Further, the need for the ToList() only exists because the property demands it. You could return an IEnumerable<string> instead if you wanted to get rid of that.

answered Nov 13, 2013 at 19:42

Mike Perrenoud

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3 Comments

Mike Perrenoud Over a year ago

@Stanislav, I'm glad I could be of assistance!

ibubi Over a year ago

What if FirstName is dynamic, may come from parameter as string?

Mike Perrenoud Over a year ago

@ibubi if FirstName is dynamic then you'd want to cast that inside the Select expression.

Reda · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-13 19:43:29Z

7

public List<string> FirstNames
{
    get
    {
       return _contactList.Select(C => C.FirstName).ToList();
    }
}

answered Nov 13, 2013 at 19:43

Reda

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