Initializing an Array of Structs in C#

Question

How can I initialize a const / static array of structs as clearly as possible?

class SomeClass
{

    struct MyStruct
    {
        public string label;
        public int id;
    };

    const MyStruct[] MyArray = {
          {"a", 1}
          {"b", 5}
          {"q", 29}
    };
};

Answer 1

Firstly, do you really have to have a mutable struct? They're almost always a bad idea. Likewise public fields. There are some very occasional contexts in which they're reasonable (usually both parts together, as with ValueTuple ) but they're pretty rare in my experience.

Other than that, I'd just create a constructor taking the two bits of data:

class SomeClass
{

    struct MyStruct
    {
        private readonly string label;
        private readonly int id;

        public MyStruct (string label, int id)
        {
            this.label = label;
            this.id = id;
        }

        public string Label { get { return label; } }
        public string Id { get { return id; } }

    }

    static readonly IList<MyStruct> MyArray = new ReadOnlyCollection<MyStruct>
        (new[] {
             new MyStruct ("a", 1),
             new MyStruct ("b", 5),
             new MyStruct ("q", 29)
        });
}

Note the use of ReadOnlyCollection instead of exposing the array itself - this will make it immutable, avoiding the problem exposing arrays directly . (The code show does initialize an array of structs - it then just passes the reference to the constructor of ReadOnlyCollection<> .)

Answer 2

Are you using C# 3.0? You can use object initializers like so:

static MyStruct[] myArray = 
            new MyStruct[]{
                new MyStruct() { id = 1, label = "1" },
                new MyStruct() { id = 2, label = "2" },
                new MyStruct() { id = 3, label = "3" }
            };

Answer 3

You cannot initialize reference types by default other than null. You have to make them readonly. So this could work;

    readonly MyStruct[] MyArray = new MyStruct[]{
      new MyStruct{ label = "a", id = 1},
      new MyStruct{ label = "b", id = 5},
      new MyStruct{ label = "c", id = 1}
    };

Answer 4

Change const to static readonly and initialise it like this

static readonly MyStruct[] MyArray = new[] {
    new MyStruct { label = "a", id = 1 },
    new MyStruct { label = "b", id = 5 },
    new MyStruct { label = "q", id = 29 }
};

Answer 5

I'd use a static constructor on the class that sets the value of a static readonly array.

public class SomeClass
{
   public readonly MyStruct[] myArray;

   public static SomeClass()
   {
      myArray = { {"foo", "bar"},
                  {"boo", "far"}};
   }
}