C# Reference object in a collection by a string instead of integer

Question

I have a collection of objects stored in a List.

I would like to address the an object by using a string name instead of an integer.

List<Foo> fooList = new List<Foo>;
Foo item = fooList["Foo Name"]

instead of:

List<Foo> fooList = new List<Foo>;
Foo item = fooList[0]

I was thinking that I need to create a collection class that inherits from List, but from there, I'm not sure.

Answer 1

Dictionary<string, Foo> is the type you want.

Answer 2

Joren's answer is the go-to, but if you need to preserve sequential order for some other logic, AND the name you want to refer to the object by can be a member of that object, than a little Linq can also do the trick:

List<Foo> fooList = new List<Foo>;
Foo item = fooList.FirstOrDefault(f=>f.Name == "Foo Name");

You could put this into an "indexer" property of a custom collection that derives from list:

public class MyList:List<Foo>
{
   public Foo this[string name]
   {
      get { return this.FirstOrDefault(f=>f.Name == "Foo Name"); }
   }
}

...which allows you to get your exact desired syntax, while maintaining sequential ordering (which is not guaranteed with a Dictionary)