Question

I can easily use a string array without declaring it in advance using something like this:

new string[]{"MyString1","MyString2"} 

And use it as a method parameter without having to declare a variable for it in advance. However I can’t do this properly with Dictionary<string,string>.
I tried:

new Dictionary<string,string>(){"1","2"}

And

new Dictionary<string,string>().Add("1","2"):

None of above worked in terms of being compiled.

Answer 1

Do it this way

new Dictionary<string,string>(){{"Key1","Value1"},{"Key2","Value2"}};

Every Dictionary entry is a combination of a Key and a corresponding value. Hence first entry is {"Key1","Value1"} where Key is "Key1" and value is "Value1" and so and so forth.

And use it as a method parameter without having to declare a variable for it in advance. However I can’t do this properly with Dictionary. I tried :

new Dictionary<string,string>().Add("1","2"):

This cannot be used for method parameter as Add method does not return anything. Its a void method.

Food for thought: Your new string[]{"MyString1","MyString2"} is single dimensional array namely string[] whereas dictionary is like string[x][2] where x is length of dictionary. (string[x][2] is just for representation purpose. I know its illegal declaration)