A to Z list of char from Enumerable.Range

Question

I want to make a list from Enumerable.Range. Is this code correct?

SurnameStartLetterList = new List<char>();
Enumerable.Range(65, 26).ToList().ForEach(character => SurnameStartLetterList.Add((char)character));

Or is there a better way to make this type of list?

Answer 1

Maybe like this?

var surnameList = Enumerable.Range('A', 'Z' - 'A' + 1).
                     Select(c => (char)c).ToList();

Answer 2

Well, string is IEnumerable<char> , so this would also work:

"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ".ToList()

You have to weigh the pros and cons on this.

Pros:

• Easier to read the above code than your loop (subjective, this was my opinion)
• Shorter code (but probably not enough to account for much)

Cons:

• Harder to read if you don't know what .ToList() will do with a string

• Can introduce bugs, for instance, would you easily spot the mistake here:

   "ABCDEFGHIJKLMN0PQRSTUVWXYZ".ToList() 

  By easily I mean that you would spot the mistake as you're just reading past the code, not if you knew there was a problem here and went hunting for it.

Answer 3

I took Can's answer and made an extension function:

public static IEnumerable<char> Range(char start, char end)
{
  return Enumerable.Range((int)start, (int)end - (int)start + 1).Select(i => (char)i);
}

Usage:

Console.WriteLine(Range('a', 'f').Contains("Vive La France!"[6]));