Get longest and shortest string in a esthetical way

Question

I have the following lines in my code. They are taking more place than they should. Any suggestions for a smaller code.

string longestString;
string shortestString;
if (string1.Length > string2.Length) 
{
   longestString = string1;
   shortestString = string2;
}
else 
{
   longestString = string2;
   shortestString = string1;
}

I know, not a really important question, but this is taking 2/3 of the entire method and not the important stuff.

Answer 1

Perhaps:

int diff = string1.Length.CompareTo(string2.Length);
string longestString  = diff > 0 ? string1 : string2;
string shortestString = diff > 0 ? string2 : string1; 

But if you have more than these two strings and you want a general solution you could use:

var lenLookup = new[] { string1, string2 }.OrderBy(s => s.Length).ToList();
string shortestString = lenLookup.First();
string longestString = lenLookup.Last();

Answer 2

Since your code would always perform either the if or else path, pick one as "default" and merge it with variable declaration:

string longestString = string2
string shortestString = string1;
if (string1.Length > string2.Length) 
{
   longestString = string1;
   shortestString = string2;
}

Bonus points for the fact that you'll actually initialize those variables.

Answer 3

Well, you could do this to clear your method up;

public string GetLongestString(string str1, string str2)
{
    return str1.Length > str2.Length ? str1 : str2;
}

public string GetShortestString(string str1, string str2)
{
    return str1.Length > str2.Length ? str2 : str1;
}

string longestString = GetLongestString(string1, string2);
string shortestString = GetShortestString(string1, string2);

And reuse it whenever you want!

Heck, make it even cooler (in co-op mode with Tim);

public IEnumerable<string> GetLongestStrings(params string[] strings)
{
    //returns first string with largest length out of given argumenst
    int maxSize = strings.Max(str => str.Length);
    return strings.Where(s => s.Length == maxSize);
}

public IEnumerable<string> GetShortestStrings(params string[] strings)
{
    //returns first string with shortest length out of given arguments
    int minSize = strings.Min(str => str.Length);
    return strings.Where(s => s.Length == minSize);
}

Usage;

string longestString = GetLongestStrings("str1", "str2", /*...*/ "strN").FirstOrDefault();

EDIT1: My first implementation is not the most efficient. As Tim suggested;

public string GetLongestString(params string[] strings)
{
    return strings.OrderBy(s => s.Length).First();
}

public string GetShortestString(params string[] strings)
{
    return strings.OrderByDescending(s => s.Length).First();
}

Usage;

string longestString = GetLongestString("str1", "str2", /*...*/ "strN");