Performance concern: StringCollection vs List<String>

c# performance list .net-4.0 stringcollection
GianT971 picture GianT971 · Oct 15, 2011 · Viewed 16.1k times · Source

I was wondering when I should use List< string > and when I should use StringCollection.

Let's say that I have to deal with large number of strings (like text files of 10mb).

I know that List< T > provides more powerful functions than StringCollection.

But sometimes I kind of find the List< T > slow when for example telling a Gridview that its datasource is a List< String >...

So do anyone know the pros and cons of these collections, concerning speed and weight in memory?

Concerning their functionalities, I am sure everybody will agree to say that List is the best, so my question is not about that. Consider the question is about projects on Frameworks 4.0, so both can be used.

Answer

Jon Skeet picture Jon Skeet · Oct 15, 2011

I would personally prefer to use List<string>:

  • No need to remember one specific type just for strings
  • It implements the generic IEnumerable<T> rather than just IEnumerable, and thus supports LINQ
  • It's supported in SilverLight
  • It's more idiomatic for most developers (IMO)

I would be really surprised to find StringCollection to be significantly faster than List<string> - see if you can back that up with numbers. My only cause for hesitation is that GridView could potentially have hard-coded support for StringCollection to make it fast with that type - but that sounds pretty unlikely to me.

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