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What are LINQ Last(), and LastOrDefault() functions?

Amrith Chandran 583 12 Feb 2025

What are LINQ Last(), and LastOrDefault() functions?

linq linqlinq function
Updated 12 Feb 2025
Amrith Chandran
Amrith Chandran

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Hi, this is Amrit Chandran. I'm a professional content writer. I have 3+ years of experience in content writing. I write content like Articles, Blogs, and Views (Opinion based content on political and controversial).

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1 Answers

Ashutosh Patel
Ashutosh Patel 12 Feb 2025
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Last() vs LastOrDefault() in LINQ (C#)

Last() and LastOrDefault() both retrieve the last element from a collection, but they behave differently when no matching element is found.

Last()

  • Returns the last element in the collection that matches a given condition.
  • Throws an exception (InvalidOperationException) if no matching element is found.

Example-

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class Program
{
   static void Main()
   {
       List<int> numbers = new List<int> { 3, 7, 8, 10, 15 };
       int lastEven = numbers.Last(n => n % 2 == 0);
       Console.WriteLine("Last Even Number: " + lastEven);
       // Output: Last Even Number: 10
   }
}

LastOrDefault()

  • Returns the last matching element, or the default value (null for reference types, 0 for numeric types) if no element is found.
  • Does not throw an exception when no element matches.

Example- 

Finding Last Even Number, with Default Handling

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class Program
{
   static void Main()
   {
       List<int> numbers = new List<int> { 3, 7, 8, 10, 15 };
       int lastEven = numbers.LastOrDefault(n => n % 2 == 0);
       Console.WriteLine("Last Even Number: " + lastEven);
       // Output: Last Even Number: 10 (if present) or 0 (if no match)

       // with string
       List<string> names = new List<string> { "Alice", "Bob", "Charlie" };
       string result = names.LastOrDefault(n => n.StartsWith("Z"));
       Console.WriteLine(result == null ? "No match found" : result);
       // Output: No match found

   }
}

When to use what?

  • Use Last() when you are sure that at least one matching element exists.
  • Use LastOrDefault() when no matching element exists (to avoid exceptions).

Also, Read: Explain First(), FirstOrDefault() function in LINQ with C#

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