.Net - LINQ query returning a single object?

Question

Is it possible to use a LINQ query to return a single object instead of a list?

User user = (from User u in users 
     where u.id == 5
     select u);

Answer 1

Yes,

User user = (from User u in users 
    where u.id == 5
    select u).Single()

This will throw and exception if more than one element is returned by the query.

If you only want the first element:

User user = (from User u in users 
    where u.id == 5
    select u).First()

Use SingleOrDefault() and FirstOrDefault() to return null for reference types when no element exists.

Answer 2

Use one of:

.Single() // return a single
.SingleOrDefault() // return a single or the default value if there are no matches
.First() // return the first object it encounters that matches
.FirstOrDefault() // return the first object it encounters that matches, or the default value if no matches

.Single() and .SingleOrDefault() will throw an exception if there are multiple matches.