Question

Can anyone help me figure out how I could simplify this code, without using an ArrayList?

List<Pair> material = new List<Pair>();
List<string> list = new List<string>();

string tempStr;
int integer = -1;
foreach (string s in ((string)Value).Split(new char[1] { ',' }))
{
  if (int.TryParse(s, out integer))
  {
     tempStr = NameValue.AllKeys[integer];

     if (someCondition == true)
     {
        material.Add(new Pair(tempStr, integer));
     }
     else
     {
        list.Add(tempStr);
     }
  }
}
if(someCondition == true)
{
  return material.ExtensionMethodForLists();
}
else
{
  return list.ExtensionMethodForLists();
}

When I’ve tried something like (below) I get an error for not initializing an implicityly-typed variable.

var list;
if(someCondition == true)
{
  list = new List<Pair>();
}
else
{
  list = new List<string>();
}

Answer 1

If you are using different types, you would need to use a non-generic type for the variable:

IList list;
if(someCondition == true)
{
  list = new List<Pair>();
}
else
{
  list = new List<string>();
}

or

IList list = someCondition ? (IList)new List<Pair>() : new List<string>();

Personally, I’m not sure it is a great design, but it satisfies the requirement.