Question

I am using .NET 3.5. What method of the Array class is best for returning a empty index in an array (which can then be used for populating). The Single/SingleOrDefault() methods look good, but if there is more than one empty slot, I want the first with the lowest index.

EDIT: This is pretty easy with a loop, but I am looking at ways to do this in LINQ.

My current result in code is this:

              var x = from s in BaseArray
                    where s == null
                    select s;

But not tested and not sure how it will behave (will get more than one result in an empty array).

Thanks

Answer 1

var result = list.Where(i => IsItemEmpty(i)).FirstOrDefault();

This simple linq statement will return the first “empty” item from the list. Of course, I’ve abstracted out how to decide if the item is empty as I don’t know what your data structure looks like, but that should do it.