How can I return the last element in a dictionary in C#?

Question

My dictionary:

Dictionary<double, string> dic = new Dictionary<double, string>();

How can I return the last element in my dictionary?

Answer 1

If you just want the value, this should work (assuming you can use LINQ):

dic.Values.Last()

Answer 2

You could use:

dic.Last()

But a dictionary doesn't really have a last element (the pairs inside aren't ordered in any particular way). The last item will always be the same, but it's not obvious which element it might be.

Answer 3

With .Net 3.5:

string lastItem = dic.Values.Last()
string lastKey = dic.Keys.Last()

...but keep in mind that a dictionary is not ordered, so you can't count on the fact that the values will remain in the same order.

Answer 4

What do you mean by Last? Do you mean Last value added?

The Dictionary<TKey,TValue> class is an unordered collection. Adding and removing items can change what is considered to be the first and last element. Hence there is no way to get the Last element added.

There is an ordered dictionary class available in the form of SortedDictionary<TKey,TValue>. But this will be ordered based on comparison of the keys and not the order in which values were added.

EDIT

Several people have mentioned using the following LINQ style approach

var last = dictionary.Values.Last();

Be very wary about using this method. It will return the last value in the Values collection. This may or may not be the last value you added to the Dictionary. It's probably as likely to not be as it is to be.

Answer 5

If you're using .NET 3.5, look at:

 dic.Keys.Last()

If you want a predictable order, though, use:

IDictionary<int, string> dic = new SortedDictionary<int, string>();

Answer 6

Dictionaries are unordered collections - as such, there is no concept of a first or last element. If you are looking for a class that behaves like a dictionary but maintains the insertion order of items, consider using OrderedDictionary.

If you are looking for a collection that sorts the items, consider using SortedDictionary<TKey,TValue>.

If you have an existing dictionary, and you are looking for the 'last' element given some sort order, you could use linq to sort the collection, something like:

myDictionary.Values.OrderBy( x => x.Key ).Last();

By wary of using Dictionary.Keys.Last() - while the key list is sorted using the default IComparer for the type of the key, the value you get may not be the value you expect.

Answer 7

Consider creating a custom collection that contains a reference in the Add method of the custom collection. This would set a private field containing the last added key/value(or both) depending on your requirements.

Then have a Last() method that returns this. Here's a proof of concept class to show what I mean (please don't knock the lack of interface implementation etc- it is sample code):

public class LastDictionary<TKey, TValue>
{
private Dictionary<TKey, TValue> dict;

public LastDictionary()
{
    dict = new Dictionary<TKey, TValue>();
}

public void Add(TKey key, TValue value)
{
    lastKey = key;
    lastValue = value;
    dict.Add(key, value);
}

public TKey LastKey
{
    get; private set;
}

public TValue LastValue
{
    get; private set;
}
}

Answer 8

From the docs:

For purposes of enumeration, each item in the dictionary is treated as a KeyValuePair structure representing a value and its key. The order in which the items are returned is undefined.

So, I don't think you can rely on Dictionary to return the last element.

Use another collection. Maybe SortedDictionary ...

Answer 9

A dictionary isn't meant to be accessed in order, so first, last have no meaning. Do you want the value indexed by the highest key?

Dictionary<double, string> dic = new Dictionary<double, string>();
double highest = double.MinValue;
string result = null;
foreach(double d in dic.keys)
{
   if(d > highest)
   {
      result = dic[d];
      highest = d;
   }
}