Creating objects dynamically in loop

Question

I have an array of strings that I am looping through. I would like to loop through the array and on each iteration, create a new object with a name that matches the string value.

For example;

string[] array = new string[] { "one", "two", "three" };

class myClass(){

    public myClass(){
    }
}

foreach (string name in array)
{
   myClass *value of name here* = new myClass(); 
}

Would result in three objects being instantiated, with the names "one", "two" and "three".

Is this possible or is there are better solution?

Answer 1

What are you trying to do is not possible in statically-typed language. IIRC, that's possible on PHP, and it's not advisable though.

Use dictionary instead: http://ideone.com/vChWD

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

class myClass{

    public string Name { get; set; }
    public myClass(){
    }
}

class MainClass
{

    public static void Main() 
    {
        string[] array = new string[] { "one", "two", "three" };
        IDictionary<string,myClass> col= new Dictionary<string,myClass>();
        foreach (string name in array)
        {
              col[name] = new myClass { Name = "hahah " + name  + "!"};
        }

        foreach(var x in col.Values)
        {
              Console.WriteLine(x.Name);
        }

        Console.WriteLine("Test");
        Console.WriteLine(col["two"].Name);
    }
}

Output:

hahah one!
hahah two!
hahah three!
Test
hahah two!

Answer 2

While others have given you an alternate but no one is telling why do they recommend you that.

That's because You cannot access object with dynamic names.

(Food for thought: Just think for a moment if you could do so, how will you access them before they are even coded/named.)

Instead create a Dictionary<string, myClass> as others mentioned.

Answer 3

Use a Dictionary<String, myClass> instead:

var dict= new Dictionary<String, myClass>();

foreach (string name in array)
{
    dict.Add(name, new myClass());
}

Now you can access the myClass instances by your names:

var one = dict["one"];

or in a loop:

foreach (string name in array)
{
    myClass m = dict[ name ];
}