Question

How can I modify the following code:

var people = new[] {
   new { name = "John", surname = "Smith" },
   new { name = "John", surname = "Doe" },
};

To not use the var keyword (so I can initialise the variable in an object initialiser) and still be able to access the elements like this?:

System.Console.WriteLine(people[0].surname); //John
System.Console.WriteLine(people[1].surname); //Doe

Answer 1

Define a model:

public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Surname { get; set; }
}

and then have a collection of this model:

List<Person> people = new List<Person>();
people.Add(new Person { Name = "John", Surname = "Smith" });
people.Add(new Person { Name = "John", Surname = "Doe" });

or:

var people = new List<Person> 
{ 
    new Person { Name = "John", Surname = "Smith" }, 
    new Person { Name = "John", Surname = "Doe" } 
};

and then you can still:

System.Console.WriteLine(people[0].Surname); //John
System.Console.WriteLine(people[1].Surname); //Doe