How to get first object out from List<Object> using Linq

Solution 1:

Try:

var firstElement = lstComp.First();

You can also use FirstOrDefault() just in case lstComp does not contain any items.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/bb340482(v=vs.100).aspx

Edit:

To get the Component Value:

var firstElement = lstComp.First().ComponentValue("Dep");

This would assume there is an element in lstComp. An alternative and safer way would be...

var firstOrDefault = lstComp.FirstOrDefault();
if (firstOrDefault != null) 
{
    var firstComponentValue = firstOrDefault.ComponentValue("Dep");
}

Solution 2:

[0] or .First() will give you the same performance whatever happens.
But your Dictionary could contains IEnumerable<Component> instead of List<Component>, and then you cant use the [] operator. That is where the difference is huge.

So for your example, it doesn't really matters, but for this code, you have no choice to use First():

var dic = new Dictionary<String, IEnumerable<Component>>();
foreach (var components in dic.Values)
{
    // you can't use [0] because components is an IEnumerable<Component>
    var firstComponent = components.First(); // be aware that it will throw an exception if components is empty.
    var depCountry = firstComponent.ComponentValue("Dep");
}