Definition of C# data structures and algorithms

Question

This may be a silly question (with MSDN and all), but maybe some of you will be able to help me sift through amazing amounts of information.

I need to know the specifics of the implementations of common data structures and algorithms in C#. That is, for example, I need to know, say, how Linked Lists are handled and represented, how they and their methods are defined.

Is there a good centralized source of documentation for this (with code), or should I just reconstruct it? Have you ever had to know the specifics of these things to decide what to use?

Regards, and thanks.

Answer 1

Scott Mitchell has a great 6-part article that covers many .NET data structures:

An Extensive Examination of Data Structures

For an algorithmic overview of data structures, I suggest reading the algorithm textbook: "Introduction to Algorithms" by Cormen, et al..

For details on each .NET data structure the MSDN page on that specific class is good.

When all of them fail to address issues, Reflector is always there. You can use it to dig through the actual source and see things for yourself.

Answer 2

If you really want to learn it, try making your own.

Googling for linked lists will give you a lot of hits and sample code to go off of. Wikipedia will also be a good resource.