Linq- SequenceEqual Operator

SequenceEqual() method is used to determine whether two sequences are equal. This method returns true if the sequences are equal otherwise false. 

For 2 sequences to be equal
1. Both the sequences should have same number of elements and
2. Same values should be present in the same order in both the sequences

Example 1 : SequenceEqual() returns true.

string[] countries1 = { "USA", "India", "UK" };

string[] countries2 = { "USA", "India", "UK" };

var result = countries1.SequenceEqual(countries2);

Console.WriteLine("Are Equal = " + result);

Example 2 : In this case, SequenceEqual() returns false, as the default comparison is case sensitive. 

string[] countries1 = { "USA", "INDIA", "UK" };

string[] countries2 = { "usa", "india", "uk" };

var result = countries1.SequenceEqual(countries2);

Console.WriteLine("Are Equal = " + result);

Example 3: If we want the comparison to be case-insensitive, then use the other overloaded version of SequenceEqual() method to which we can pass an alternate comparer.

string[] countries1 = { "USA", "INDIA", "UK" };

string[] countries2 = { "usa", "india", "uk" };

var result = countries1.SequenceEqual(countries2, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);

Console.WriteLine("Are Equal = " + result);

Example 4 : SequenceEqual() returns false. This is because, although both the sequences contain same data, the data is not present in the same order.

string[] countries1 = { "USA", "INDIA", "UK" };

string[] countries2 = { "UK", "INDIA", "USA" };

var result = countries1.SequenceEqual(countries2);

Console.WriteLine("Are Equal = " + result);

Example 5 : To fix the problem in Example 4, use OrderBy() to sort data in the source sequences.

string[] countries1 = { "USA", "INDIA", "UK" };

string[] countries2 = { "UK", "INDIA", "USA" };

var result = countries1.OrderBy(c => c).SequenceEqual(countries2.OrderBy(c => c));

Console.WriteLine("Are Equal = " + result);

Example 6 : When comparing complex types, the default comparer will only check if the object references are equal. So, in this case SequenceEqual() returns false.

List<Employee> list1 = new List<Employee>()

{

    new Employee { ID = 101, Name = "Mike"},

    new Employee { ID = 102, Name = "Susy"},

};

List<Employee> list2 = new List<Employee>()

{

    new Employee { ID = 101, Name = "Mike"},

    new Employee { ID = 102, Name = "Susy"},

};

var result = list1.SequenceEqual(list2);

Console.WriteLine("Are Equal = " + result);

To solve the problem in Example 6, there are 3 ways
1. Use the other overloaded version of SequenceEqual() method to which we can pass a custom class that implements IEqualityComparer
2. Override Equals() and GetHashCode() methods in Employee class
3. Project the properties into a new anonymous type, which overrides Equals() and GetHashCode() methods

We discussed implementing these 3 options for Distinct() method of LINQ . In the same way these options can be implemented for SequenceEqual() method.

Posted in: LINQ