C# Convert List<string> to Dictionary<string, string>

Solution 1:

Try this:

var res = list.ToDictionary(x => x, x => x);

The first lambda lets you pick the key, the second one picks the value.

You can play with it and make values differ from the keys, like this:

var res = list.ToDictionary(x => x, x => string.Format("Val: {0}", x));

If your list contains duplicates, add Distinct() like this:

var res = list.Distinct().ToDictionary(x => x, x => x);

EDIT To comment on the valid reason, I think the only reason that could be valid for conversions like this is that at some point the keys and the values in the resultant dictionary are going to diverge. For example, you would do an initial conversion, and then replace some of the values with something else. If the keys and the values are always going to be the same, HashSet<String> would provide a much better fit for your situation:

var res = new HashSet<string>(list);
if (res.Contains("string1")) ...

Solution 2:

Use this:

var dict = list.ToDictionary(x => x);

See MSDN for more info.

As Pranay points out in the comments, this will fail if an item exists in the list multiple times.
Depending on your specific requirements, you can either use var dict = list.Distinct().ToDictionary(x => x); to get a dictionary of distinct items or you can use ToLookup instead:

var dict = list.ToLookup(x => x);

This will return an ILookup<string, string> which is essentially the same as IDictionary<string, IEnumerable<string>>, so you will have a list of distinct keys with each string instance under it.