Compare Two Lists Via One Property Using LINQ

Question

Say I have the following:

    class Widget1{
        public int TypeID { get; set; }
        public string Color { get; set; }
    }

    class Widget2
    {
        public int TypeID { get; set; }
        public string Brand { get; set; }
    }

    private void test()
    {
        List<Widget1> widgets1 = new List<Widget1>();
        List<Widget2> widgets2 = new List<Widget2>();
        List<Widget1> widgets1_in_widgets2 = new List<Widget1>();

        //some code here to populate widgets1 and widgets2

        foreach (Widget1 w1 in widgets1)
        {
            foreach (Widget2 w2 in widgets2)
            {
                if (w1.TypeID == w2.TypeID)
                {
                    widgets1_in_widgets2.Add(w1);
                }
            }
        }
    }

I am using two foreach loops to compare the lists by TypeID to populate a third list. Is there any other way using LINQ to compare these two lists via the TypeID? Perhaps using Interstect or some other function?

Answer 1

What you want here is a Join.

var widgets1_in_widgets2 = from first in widgest1
    join second in widgets2
    on first.TypeID equals second.TypeID
    select first;

Intersect can be more or less thought of as a special case of Join where the two sequences are of the same type, and can thus be applied for equality instead of needing a projection for each type to generate a key to compare. Given your case, Intersect isn't an option.

If a particular ID is duplicated in your second set and you don't want the item to be duplicated in the results then you can use a GroupJoin instead of a Join:

var widgets1_in_widgets2 = from first in widgest1
    join second in widgets2
    on first.TypeID equals second.TypeID
    into matches
    where matches.Any()
    select first;