Set Operations in LINQ

There are four operators for the set operations, each yielding a result based on different criteria.

Operator	Description	C# Query Expression Syntax	VB Query Expression Syntax
Distinct	Results a list of unique values from a collection by filtering duplicate data if any	Not Applicable	Distinct
Except	Compares the values of two collections and return the ones from one collection who are not in the other collection	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Intersect	Returns the set of values found t be identical in two separate collections	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Union	Combines content of two different collections into a single list that too without any duplicate content	Not Applicable	Not Applicable

Example of Distinct - Query Expression

VB

Module Module1

   Sub Main()
  
      Dim classGrades = New System.Collections.Generic.List(Of Integer) From {63, 68, 71, 75, 68, 92, 75}

      Dim distinctQuery = From grade In classGrades 
                          Select grade Distinct

      Dim sb As New System.Text.StringBuilder("The distinct grades are: ")
	  
      For Each number As Integer In distinctQuery
         sb.Append(number & " ")
      Next

      MsgBox(sb.ToString())
	  
   End Sub
   
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

The distinct grades are: 63 68 71 75 92

Example of Except - Enumerable.Except Method

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace Operators {
   class Program {
      static void Main(string[] args) {
      
         double[] numbers1 = { 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 };
         double[] numbers2 = { 2.2 };

         IEnumerable<double> onlyInFirstSet = numbers1.Except(numbers2);

         foreach (double number in onlyInFirstSet)
            Console.WriteLine(number);
            Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

VB

Module Module1

   Sub Main()
   
      Dim numbers1() As Double = {2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5}
      Dim numbers2() As Double = {2.2}

      Dim onlyInFirstSet As IEnumerable(Of Double) = numbers1.Except(numbers2)

      Dim output As New System.Text.StringBuilder
	  
      For Each number As Double In onlyInFirstSet
         output.AppendLine(number)
         Console.WriteLine(number)
      Next
	  
      Console.ReadLine()
     
   End Sub
   
End Module

When the above code of C# or VB is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

2
2.1
2.3
2.4
2.5

Example of Intersect - Enumerable.Intersect Method

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace Operators {
   class Program {
      static void Main(string[] args) {

         int[] id1 = { 44, 26, 92, 30, 71, 38 };
         int[] id2 = { 39, 59, 83, 47, 26, 4, 30 };

         IEnumerable<int> both = id1.Intersect(id2);

         foreach (int id in both)
            Console.WriteLine(id);
            Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

VB

Module Module1

   Sub Main()
   
      Dim id1() As Integer = {44, 26, 92, 30, 71, 38}
      Dim id2() As Integer = {39, 59, 83, 47, 26, 4, 30}

      Dim intersection As IEnumerable(Of Integer) = id1.Intersect(id2)

      Dim output As New System.Text.StringBuilder
	  
      For Each id As Integer In intersection
         output.AppendLine(id)
         Console.WriteLine(id)
      Next
     
      Console.ReadLine()
     
   End Sub
   
End Module

When the above code of C# or VB is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

26
30

Example of Union - Enumerable.Union Method

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace Operators {
   class Program {
      static void Main(string[] args) {
      
         int[] ints1 = { 5, 3, 9, 7, 5, 9, 3, 7 };
         int[] ints2 = { 8, 3, 6, 4, 4, 9, 1, 0 };

         IEnumerable<int> union = ints1.Union(ints2);

         foreach (int num in union) {
            Console.Write("{0} ", num);
            Console.Write("\n");
         }
			
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

VB

Module Module1

   Sub Main()
   
      Dim ints1() As Integer = {5, 3, 9, 7, 5, 9, 3, 7}
      Dim ints2() As Integer = {8, 3, 6, 4, 4, 9, 1, 0}

      Dim union As IEnumerable(Of Integer) = ints1.Union(ints2)

      Dim output As New System.Text.StringBuilder
	  
      For Each num As Integer In union
         output.AppendLine(num & " ")
         Console.WriteLine(num & " ")
      Next
     
      Console.ReadLine()
	  
   End Sub
   
End Module

When the above code of C# or VB is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

linq_query_operators.htm