How do I remove duplicates from a C# array?

Question

I have been working with a string[] array in C# that gets returned from a function call. I could possibly cast to a Generic collection, but I was wondering if there was a better way to do it, possibly by using a temp array.

What is the best way to remove duplicates from a C# array?

Answer 1

This code 100% remove duplicate values from an array[as I used a[i]].....You can convert it in any OO language..... :)

for(int i=0;i<size;i++)
{
    for(int j=i+1;j<size;j++)
    {
        if(a[i] == a[j])
        {
            for(int k=j;k<size;k++)
            {
                 a[k]=a[k+1];
            }
            j--;
            size--;
        }
    }

}

Answer 2

NOTE : NOT tested!

string[] test(string[] myStringArray)
{
    List<String> myStringList = new List<string>();
    foreach (string s in myStringArray)
    {
        if (!myStringList.Contains(s))
        {
            myStringList.Add(s);
        }
    }
    return myStringList.ToString();
}

Might do what you need...

EDIT Argh!!! beaten to it by rob by under a minute!

Answer 3

public static int RemoveDuplicates(ref int[] array)
{
    int size = array.Length;

    // if 0 or 1, return 0 or 1:
    if (size  < 2) {
        return size;
    }

    int current = 0;
    for (int candidate = 1; candidate < size; ++candidate) {
        if (array[current] != array[candidate]) {
            array[++current] = array[candidate];
        }
    }

    // index to count conversion:
    return ++current;
}