Is there a shorter/simpler version of the for loop to anything x times?

Question

Usually we do something like a for or while loop with a counter:

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {     list.Add(GetRandomItem()); } 

but sometimes you mix up with boundaries. You could use a while loop instead, but if you make a mistake this loop is infinite...

In Perl for example I would use the more obvious

for(1..10){     list->add(getRandomItem()); } 

Is there something like doitXtimes(10){...}?

Answer 1

Well you can easily write your own extension method:

public static void Times(this int count, Action action) {     for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)     {         action();     } } 

Then you can write:

10.Times(() => list.Add(GetRandomItem())); 

I'm not sure I'd actually suggest that you do that, but it's an option. I don't believe there's anything like that in the framework, although you can use Enumerable.Range or Enumerable.Repeat to create a lazy sequence of an appropriate length, which can be useful in some situations.

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As of C# 6, you can still access a static method conveniently without creating an extension method, using a using static directive to import it. For example:

// Normally in a namespace, of course. public class LoopUtilities {     public static void Repeat(int count, Action action)     {         for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)         {             action();         }     } } 

Then when you want to use it:

using static LoopUtilities;  // Class declaration etc, then: Repeat(5, () => Console.WriteLine("Hello.")); 

Answer 2

foreach (var i in Enumerable.Range(0, N)) {     // do something }