Question

How do you return a specific type in a Linq query? I know you can use ToList() to return a list of specific objects but how do you return a non list?

MyObj x = from x in list where x.id == 99 select x;

Answer 1

MyObj x = list.FirstOrDefault(i=>i.id == 99);

Alternative IEnumerable methods you can use to return a single item:

• list.Single(i=>i.id == 99): throws an exception if no matches are found or multiple matches are found.
• list.SingleOrDefault(i=>i.id == 99): returns null if no matches are found, throws an exception if multiple matches are found.
• list.First(i=>i.id == 99): throws an exception if no matches are found. If multiple matches are found, returns the first item in the list.
• list.FirstOrDefault(i=>i.id == 99): returns null if no matches are found. If multiple matches are found, returns the first item in the list.