Question

This code:

private int GetColumnToPopulate(int columnBase, int offset) {
    int duckbillColNum = 0;
    switch (columnBase) {
        case 0:
            duckbillColNum = 1;
            break;
        case 1:
            duckbillColNum = 5;
            break;
        case 2:
            duckbillColNum = 9;
            break;
        case 3:
            duckbillColNum = 13;
            break;
        case 4:
            duckbillColNum = 17;
            break;
        case 5:
            duckbillColNum = 21;
            break;
        case 6:
            duckbillColNum = 25;
            break;
        case 7:
            duckbillColNum = 29;
            break;
    }
    duckbillColNum += offset;
    return duckbillColNum;
}

…is easy to grok, but verbose and clunky. I would like to streamline it. My pseudocode idea is something like:

int[] colBases
{
    0..7
}
int[] offsets
{
    1,5,9,13,17,21,25,29
}
int idx = colBases.IndexOf(columnBase);
duckbillColNum = offsets[idx];

…or perhaps a multidimensional int array? At any rate, the “IndexOf” business, of course, does not comp[ile,ute].

Answer 1

How about:

private int GetColumnToPopulate(int columnBase, int offset) {
   return (columnBase * 4) + 1 + offset;
}