KeyValuePair VS DictionaryEntry
There are some difference between KeyValuePair which is the generic version and DictionaryEntry which is non generic version.
- KeyValuePair < T,T > is for iterating through Dictionary < T,T >. This is the .Net 2 way of doing things.
- DictionaryEntry is for iterating through HashTables. This is the .Net 1 way of doing things.
- KeyValuePair<TKey,TValue> is used in place of DictionaryEntry because it is generic.
The advantage of using a KeyValuePair<TKey,TValue> is that we can give the compiler more information about what is in our dictionary. Esp. the data type
Dictionary<string, int> dict = new Dictionary<string, int>(); foreach (KeyValuePair<string, int> item in dict) { int i = item.Value; } Hashtable hashtable = new Hashtable(); foreach (DictionaryEntry item in hashtable) { // Cast required because compiler doesn't know it's a <string, int> pair. int i = (int) item.Value; }