Easiest way to compare arrays in C#

In Java, Arrays.equals() allows to easily compare the content of two basic arrays (overloads are available for all the basic types).

Is there such a thing in C#? Is there any "magic" way of comparing the content of two arrays in C#?

Solution 1:

You could use Enumerable.SequenceEqual. This works for any IEnumerable<T>, not just arrays.

Solution 2:

Use Enumerable.SequenceEqual in LINQ.

int[] arr1 = new int[] { 1,2,3};
int[] arr2 = new int[] { 3,2,1 };

Console.WriteLine(arr1.SequenceEqual(arr2)); // false
Console.WriteLine(arr1.Reverse().SequenceEqual(arr2)); // true

Solution 3:

Also for arrays (and tuples) you can use new interfaces from .NET 4.0: IStructuralComparable and IStructuralEquatable. Using them you can not only check equality of arrays but also compare them.

static class StructuralExtensions
{
    public static bool StructuralEquals<T>(this T a, T b)
        where T : IStructuralEquatable
    {
        return a.Equals(b, StructuralComparisons.StructuralEqualityComparer);
    }

    public static int StructuralCompare<T>(this T a, T b)
        where T : IStructuralComparable
    {
        return a.CompareTo(b, StructuralComparisons.StructuralComparer);
    }
}

{
    var a = new[] { 1, 2, 3 };
    var b = new[] { 1, 2, 3 };
    Console.WriteLine(a.Equals(b)); // False
    Console.WriteLine(a.StructuralEquals(b)); // True
}
{
    var a = new[] { 1, 3, 3 };
    var b = new[] { 1, 2, 3 };
    Console.WriteLine(a.StructuralCompare(b)); // 1
}

Solution 4:

For .NET 4.0 and higher you can compare elements in array or tuples via using StructuralComparisons type:

object[] a1 = { "string", 123, true };
object[] a2 = { "string", 123, true };

Console.WriteLine (a1 == a2);        // False (because arrays is reference types)
Console.WriteLine (a1.Equals (a2));  // False (because arrays is reference types)

IStructuralEquatable se1 = a1;
//Next returns True
Console.WriteLine (se1.Equals (a2, StructuralComparisons.StructuralEqualityComparer));