Subset of Array in C#

Question

If I have an array with 12 elements and I want a new array with that drops the first and 12th elements. For example, if my array looks like this:

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h  i  j  k  l
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

I want to either transform it or create a new array that looks like

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

b  c  d  e  f  g  h  i  j  k 
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

I know I can do it by iterating over them. I was just wondering if there was a cleaner way built into C#.

Answer 1

LINQ has proved to be extremely slow regarding demanding operations in my tests. Array.Copy as shown in the accepted answer is much faster. however, the fastest method so far to achieve your goal is by doing this:

var sub = input[startIndex..endIndex];

(note that there are two dots between the start and end index)

I don't know why no one talks about this feature, please tell me if there is something wrong with this method.

Answer 2

Using the ReadOnlySpan struct the code of the substr for array may look like following:

var subArray = input.AsSpan(offset, length).ToArray();

Answer 3

C# 8 has a Range and Index type

char[] a = { 'a', 'b', 'c',  'd',  'e',  'f',  'g',  'h',  'i',  'j',  'k',  'l' };
Index i1 = 1;  // number 1 from beginning
Index i2 = ^1; // number 1 from end
var slice = a[i1..i2]; // { 'b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j' }

Answer 4

LINQ is your friend. :)

var newArray = oldArray.Skip(1).Take(oldArray.Length - 2).ToArray();

Somewhat less efficient than manually creating the array and iterating over it of course, but far simple...

The slightly lengithier method that uses Array.Copy is the following.

var newArray = new int[oldArray.Count - 2];
Array.Copy(oldArray, 1, newArray, 0, newArray.Length);

Answer 5

You can use ArraySegment<T> structure like below:

var arr = new[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
var offset = 1;
var count = 2;
var subset = new ArraySegment<int>(arr, offset, count)
             .ToArray(); // output: { 2, 3 }

Check here for an extension method that makes use of it even easier.

Answer 6

If you want to avoid manually indexing the array. Don't try to pull request that anywhere though:

var newArray = oldArray.Skip(1).Reverse().Skip(1).Reverse().ToArray()

Answer 7

Linq is all nice and snazzy, but if you're looking for a 1-liner you could just throw together your own utility functions:

static class ArrayUtilities
{
    // create a subset from a range of indices
    public static T[] RangeSubset<T>(this T[] array, int startIndex, int length)
    {
        T[] subset = new T[length];
        Array.Copy(array, startIndex, subset, 0, length);
        return subset;
    }

    // create a subset from a specific list of indices
    public static T[] Subset<T>(this T[] array, params int[] indices)
    {
        T[] subset = new T[indices.Length];
        for (int i = 0; i < indices.Length; i++)
        {
            subset[i] = array[indices[i]];
        }
        return subset;
    }
}

So then you could do the following:

        char[] original = new char[] { 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g' };

        // array containing 'b' - 'f'
        char[] rangeSubset = original.RangeSubset(1, original.Length - 2);

        // array containing 'c', 'd', and 'f'
        char[] specificSubset = original.Subset(2, 3, 5);

Answer 8

You can do this with Array.Copy or LINQ.

var letters = string[] { "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i" };

int length = letters.Length - 2;
var items = new string[length];
Array.Copy(letters, 1, items, 0, length);
// or
var items = letters.Skip(1).Take(length).ToArray();

Answer 9

Array.Copy() will do that for you, but you still have to create your new array with its correct size.

Answer 10

string[] s = initialize the array...

var subset = s.Skip(1).Take(s.Length - 2).ToArray();