List<T> from property in List<T>

Question

I wasn't able to find much about how to do this. I'm probably not getting the terminology right.

I have a list of objects:

class Cat()
{
   public string Name { get; set; }
}

List<Cat> cats = new List<Cat>();

cats.add(new Cat() { Name = "Felix" } );
cats.add(new Cat() { Name = "Fluffy" } );

How do I get a list of strings from the Name property so it looks like this:

{ "Felix", "Fluffy" }

Answer 1

The LINQ Select operator is your friend:

cats.Select(c => c.Name).ToList()

I am using ToList() to avoid lazy evaluation and to ensure you have an IList to work with.

Answer 2

var names = cats.Select(c => c.Name);

But if you still need a list use

List<string> names = cats.ConvertAll(c => c.Name);