Nth element. Sometimes we want to only get alternating, or every Nth element, from a list. We do not want every element. With a special method this is possible.
By using modulo, we can test the indexes of each element. Then we add elements with matching indexes to a second list. The second list is then returned.
Input and output. Consider a C# List that has 4 elements: the lowercase 1-chars strings from "abcd." When we get every second element, we should have "a" and "c."
List<string>: "a", "b", "c", "d"
Nth(2): "a", "c"
We introduce a special method called EveryNthElement. This method receives 2 parameters—the list we want elements from, and the "N" from Nth.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class Program
{
static List<string> EveryNthElement(List<string> list, int n)
{
List<string> result = new List<string>();
for (int i = 0; i < list.Count; i++)
{
// Use a modulo expression.
if ((i % n) == 0)
{
result.Add(list[i]);
}
}
return result;
}
static void Main()
{
var test = new List<string>() { "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i" };
// Skip over 2, then take 1, then skip over 2.
var result = EveryNthElement(test, 2); // want a,c,e,g,i
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(",", result));
// Skip over 3, then take 1.
var result2 = EveryNthElement(test, 3); // want a,d,g
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(",", result2));
}
}a,c,e,g,i
a,d,g
Some notes, testing. To establish the correct behavior of an Nth element method, I checked the Nth child selector in CSS. This can be used in any modern web browser.
And When the N is 2, we should select the first, third, and fifth elements. So the EveryNthElement result is correct here.
Many improvements could be made to this Nth element method. We could add an adjustment argument to the starting index. We could use a generic type for the list element type.
Dot Net Perls is a collection of tested code examples. Pages are continually updated to stay current, with code correctness a top priority.
Sam Allen is passionate about computer languages. In the past, his work has been recommended by Apple and Microsoft and he has studied computers at a selective university in the United States.
This page was last updated on Jun 28, 2023 (edit).
