Dictionary returning a default value if the key does not exist
- by wasatz
I find myself using the current pattern quite often in my code nowadays
var dictionary = new Dictionary<type, IList<othertype>>();
// Add stuff to dictionary
var somethingElse = dictionary.ContainsKey(key) ? dictionary[key] : new List<othertype>();
// Do work with the somethingelse variable
Or sometimes
var dictionary = new Dictionary<type, IList<othertype>>();
// Add stuff to dictionary
IList<othertype> somethingElse;
if(!dictionary.TryGetValue(key, out somethingElse) {
somethingElse = new List<othertype>();
}
Both of these ways feel quite roundabout. What I really would like is something like
dictionary.GetValueOrDefault(key)
Now, I could write an extension method for the dictionary class that does this for me, but I figured that I might be missing something that already exists. SO, is there a way to do this in a way that is more "easy on the eyes" without writing an extension method to dictionary?
