Explain the difference between generic collections and non-generic collections in C#

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Aryan Kumar · Answer

Certainly! In C#, the main difference between generic collections and non-generic collections lies in the type of elements they can hold.
Generic Collections:
Definition: Generic collections are collections that can hold elements of a specific type, known at compile-time.Advantage: They provide type safety, ensuring that you can only add elements of the specified type to the collection.Example: In C#, Listandlt;T>, Dictionaryandlt;TKey, TValue>, and
Queueandlt;T> are examples of generic collections. Here, T represents the type of elements the collection can hold.
Non-Generic Collections:
Definition: Non-generic collections are collections that can hold elements of type
object, allowing them to store any type of object.Drawback: They lack type safety, as you can add any object to the collection without compile-time type checking.Example: In C#, ArrayList, Hashtable, and
Queue (non-generic version) are examples of non-generic collections.
In summary, the key distinction is that generic collections provide type safety by specifying the type of elements they can hold at compile-time, while non-generic collections work with objects of type
object, allowing for greater flexibility but sacrificing compile-time type checking. It's generally recommended to use generic collections when possible for type safety and improved performance.

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Explain the difference between generic collections and non-generic collections in C#

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