Creating objects within a loop

Question

I have been searching about creating a new object within a loop, found some answers and topics but its way too hard to understand. Making it with lists and arrays etc.

What I am trying to do is, get an input from the user(lets say 3), and create objects as many as the user will with the unique names. Like newperson1, newperson2, newperson3 etc.

My code looks like this:

class person
{
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.Write("How many persons you want to add?: ");
        int p = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());

        for (int i = 0; i < p; i++)
        {
            person newperson = new person();
        }
    }
}

Is there any way to create new objects with following numbers in the end of the object name? Thanks!

Edit:

My new code looks like this; I was more thinking like this:

class Persons
{
    //Person object id
    public int id { get; set; }

    //Persons name
    public string name { get; set; }

    //Persons adress
    public string adress { get; set; }     

    //Persons age
    public int age { get; set; }

    }

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.Write("How many persons you want to add?: ");
        int count = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());

        var newPersons = new List<Persons>(count);

        for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
        {
            newPersons[i].id = i;

            Console.Write("Write name for person " + i);
            newPersons[i].name = Console.ReadLine();

            Console.Write("Write age for person " + i);
            newPersons[i].age = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());

            Console.Write("Write adress for person " + i );
            newPersons[i].adress = Console.ReadLine();

        }

        Console.WriteLine("\nPersons \tName \tAge \tAdress");
        for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("\t" + newPersons[i].name + "\t" + newPersons[i].age + "\t" + newPersons[i].adress);
        }

        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}

I understand that I have to create object with arrays or lists. But I didn't really understand how I will access them after they are created person by person..

Answer 1

It's fairly advanced to create dynamic classes (where the actual name of the object is different). In other words, it's WAY harder to do what you're asking than to create a List or an Array. If you spend an hour or two studying Collections, it will pay off in the long run.

Also, you might consider adding a Name property to your Person class, and then you can set that differently for each person you create.

As others have said, you will need to store them in an array or list:

public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    Console.Write("How many persons you want to add?: ");
    int p = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());

    var people = new List<Person>();

    for (int i = 0; i < p; i++)
    {
        // Here you can give each person a custom name based on a number
        people.Add(new Person { Name = "Person #" + (i + 1) });
    }
}

Here's an example of one way to access a Person from the list and let the user update the information. Note that I've added a few properties to the Person class:

public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public DateTime DateOfBirth { get; set; }
    public string Address { get; set; }
    public int Age
    {
        // Calculate the person's age based on the current date and their birthday
        get
        {
            int years = DateTime.Today.Year - DateOfBirth.Year;

            // If they haven't had the birthday yet, subtract one
            if (DateTime.Today.Month < DateOfBirth.Month ||
                (DateTime.Today.Month == DateOfBirth.Month && 
                 DateTime.Today.Day < DateOfBirth.Day)) 
            {
                years--;
            }

            return years;
        }
    }
}

private static void GenericTester()
{
    Console.Write("How many persons you want to add?: ");
    string input = Console.ReadLine();
    int numPeople = 0;

    // Make sure the user enters an integer by using TryParse
    while (!int.TryParse(input, out numPeople))
    {
        Console.Write("Invalid number. How many people do you want to add: ");
        input = Console.ReadLine();
    }

    var people = new List<Person>();

    for (int i = 0; i < numPeople; i++)
    {
        // Here you can give each person a custom name based on a number
        people.Add(new Person { Name = "Person" + (i + 1) });
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Great! We've created {0} people. Their temporary names are:", 
        numPeople);

    people.ForEach(person => Console.WriteLine(person.Name));

    Console.WriteLine("Enter the name of the person you want to edit: ");
    input = Console.ReadLine();

    // Get the name of a person to edit from the user
    while (!people.Any(person => person.Name.Equals(input, 
        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
    {
        Console.Write("Sorry, that person doesn't exist. Please try again: ");
        input = Console.ReadLine();
    }

    // Grab a reference to the person the user asked for
    Person selectedPerson = people.First(person => person.Name.Equals(input, 
        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));

    // Ask for updated information:
    Console.Write("Enter a new name (or press enter to keep the default): ");
    input = Console.ReadLine();
    if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(input))
    {
        selectedPerson.Name = input;
    }

    Console.Write("Enter {0}'s birthday (or press enter to keep the default) " + 
        "(mm//dd//yy): ", selectedPerson.Name);
    input = Console.ReadLine();
    DateTime newBirthday = selectedPerson.DateOfBirth;

    if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(input))
    {
        // Make sure they enter a valid date
        while (!DateTime.TryParse(input, out newBirthday) && 
            DateTime.Today.Subtract(newBirthday).TotalDays >= 0)
        {
            Console.Write("You must enter a valid, non-future date. Try again: ");
            input = Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
    selectedPerson.DateOfBirth = newBirthday;


    Console.Write("Enter {0}'s address (or press enter to keep the default): ", 
        selectedPerson.Name);

    input = Console.ReadLine();
    if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(input))
    {
        selectedPerson.Address = input;
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Thank you! Here is the updated information:");
    Console.WriteLine(" - Name ............ {0}", selectedPerson.Name);
    Console.WriteLine(" - Address ......... {0}", selectedPerson.Address);
    Console.WriteLine(" - Date of Birth ... {0}", selectedPerson.DateOfBirth);
    Console.WriteLine(" - Age ............. {0}", selectedPerson.Age);
}