System.Collections.Generic Namespace

[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

The System.Collections.Generic namespace contains interfaces and classes that define generic collections, which allow users to create strongly typed collections that provide better type safety and performance than non-generic strongly typed collections.

Classes

	Class	Description
	Comparer<(Of <(T>)>)	Provides a base class for implementations of the IComparer<(Of <(T>)>) generic interface.
	Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)	Represents a collection of keys and values.
	Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.KeyCollection	Represents the collection of keys in a Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>). This class cannot be inherited.
	Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.ValueCollection	Represents the collection of values in a Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>). This class cannot be inherited.
	EqualityComparer<(Of <(T>)>)	Provides a base class for implementations of the IEqualityComparer<(Of <(T>)>) generic interface.
	HashSet<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a set of values.
	KeyedByTypeCollection<(Of <(TItem>)>)	Provides a collection whose items are types that serve as keys.
	KeyNotFoundException	The exception that is thrown when the key specified for accessing an element in a collection does not match any key in the collection.
	LinkedList<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a doubly linked list.
	LinkedListNode<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a node in a LinkedList<(Of <(T>)>). This class cannot be inherited.
	List<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a strongly typed list of objects that can be accessed by index. Provides methods to search, sort, and manipulate lists.
	Queue<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a first-in, first-out collection of objects.
	SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)	Represents a collection of key/value pairs that are sorted on the key.
	SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.KeyCollection	Represents the collection of keys in a SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>). This class cannot be inherited.
	SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.ValueCollection	Represents the collection of values in a SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>). This class cannot be inherited
	SortedSet<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a collection of objects that is maintained in sorted order.
	Stack<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a variable size last-in-first-out (LIFO) collection of instances of the same arbitrary type.
	SynchronizedReadOnlyCollection<(Of <(T>)>)	Provides a thread-safe, read-only collection that contains objects of a type specified by the generic parameter as elements.

Structures

	Structure	Description
	Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>).
	Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.KeyCollection..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.KeyCollection.
	Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.ValueCollection..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.ValueCollection.
	HashSet<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a HashSet<(Of <(T>)>) object.
	KeyValuePair<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)	Defines a key/value pair that can be set or retrieved.
	LinkedList<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a LinkedList<(Of <(T>)>).
	List<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a List<(Of <(T>)>).
	Queue<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a Queue<(Of <(T>)>).
	SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>).
	SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.KeyCollection..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.KeyCollection.
	SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.ValueCollection..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a SortedDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)..::.ValueCollection.
	SortedSet<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a SortedSet<(Of <(T>)>) object.
	Stack<(Of <(T>)>)..::.Enumerator	Enumerates the elements of a Stack<(Of <(T>)>).

Interfaces

	Interface	Description
	ICollection<(Of <(T>)>)	Defines methods to manipulate generic collections.
	IComparer<(Of <(T>)>)	Defines a method that a type implements to compare two objects.
	IDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)	Represents a generic collection of key/value pairs.
	IEnumerable<(Of <(T>)>)	Exposes the enumerator, which supports a simple iteration over a collection of a specified type.
	IEnumerator<(Of <(T>)>)	Supports a simple iteration over a generic collection.
	IEqualityComparer<(Of <(T>)>)	Defines methods to support the comparison of objects for equality.
	IList<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a collection of objects that can be individually accessed by index.
	IReadOnlyCollection<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a strongly-typed, read-only collection of elements.
	IReadOnlyDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>)	Represents a generic read-only collection of key/value pairs.
	IReadOnlyList<(Of <(T>)>)	Represents a read-only collection of elements that can be accessed by index.
	ISet<(Of <(T>)>)	Provides the base interface for the abstraction of sets.