Find last element in a List in C#

This post will discuss how to find the last element in a List in C#.

1. Using `Enumerable.Last` Method

To retrieve the last element of a collection, use the Enumerable.Last() method. This is available in the System.Linq namespace. It can be used as follows:

using System;

using System.Linq;

using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

List<int> nums = new List<int>() { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };

var lastItem = nums.Last();

Console.WriteLine(lastItem); // 5

}

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The Last() extension method throws System.InvalidOperationException if the collection contains no elements. Consider using the Enumerable.LastOrDefault() method instead, which returns the last element of a collection, or a default value if the collection is empty.

using System;

using System.Linq;

using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

List<int> nums = new List<int>() { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };

var lastItem = nums.LastOrDefault();

Console.WriteLine(lastItem); // 5

}

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2. Using `^` operator

If you’re using C# 8, you can use the ^ operator to access the last element in a list. The following example shows the invocation of this:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

List<int> nums = new List<int>() { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };

if (nums.Count > 0) {

var lastItem = nums[^1];

Console.WriteLine(lastItem); // 5

}

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Alternatively, you can access the last item of a list using the indexing operator. The following code example shows its usage:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example

{

public static void Main()

{

List<int> nums = new List<int>() { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };

if (nums.Count > 0) {

var lastItem = nums[nums.Count - 1];

Console.WriteLine(lastItem); // 5

}

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That’s all about finding the last element in a List in C#.

Find last element in a List in C#

1. Using Enumerable.Last Method

2. Using ^ operator

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1. Using `Enumerable.Last` Method

2. Using `^` operator