Convert List to Array in C#

This post will discuss how to convert a list to an array in C#.

C# supports straight conversion from a List<T> to an array T[] using the List<T>.ToArray() method. It returns an array containing copies of all the list elements. The following example demonstrates usage of the ToArray() method:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

List<int> list = new List<int> { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };

int[] array = list.ToArray();

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", array)); // 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

}

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To convert a list of one type to an array of another type, you can apply a transform function to each list element before invoking the List<T>.ToArray() method. This can be easily done using the Enumerable.Select() method, which projects each element of a sequence into a new form. The following example demonstrates this:

using System;

using System.Linq;

using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

List<string> list = new List<string> { "1", "2", "3", "4" };

int[] array = list.Select(int.Parse).ToArray();

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", array)); // 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

}

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If you don’t prefer LINQ, you can use the List<T>.ConvertAll() method to convert a list of one type to a list of another type.

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

List<string> list = new List<string> { "1", "2", "3", "4" };

int[] array = list.ConvertAll(int.Parse).ToArray();

Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", array)); // 1, 2, 3, 4

}

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That’s all about converting a list to an array in C#.

Convert List to Array in C#

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