Sorting a dictionary

Question

I want to sort a dictonary by its key but all the other answers involved making a list and adding it to that. It there a way to sort the dictonary itself and move the keys along with the corresponding value? Example:

Dictonary<int, int> dict = new Dictionary<int, int>();
dict.Add(0, 1);
dict.Add(5, 4);
dict.Add(2, 7);
dict.Add(7, 9);
dict.Add(1, 2);
dict.Add(4, 0);

then make the dictonary equal

0, 1

1, 2

2, 7

4, 0

5, 4

7, 9

Why not use SortedDictionary? http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f7fta44c(v=vs.110).aspx — aquinas, Apr 12 '14 at 03:22
Dictionaries are HashTables, and thus unordered by definition — Jonesopolis, Apr 12 '14 at 03:22
possible duplicate of [Sorting a Dictionary in place with respect to keys](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2705607/sorting-a-dictionary-in-place-with-respect-to-keys) — John Allers, Apr 12 '14 at 04:07

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:26

It depends what you mean by the dictionary being "equal" to what you said. If it's just on output then

        foreach (var entry in dict)
            Console.WriteLine(entry);

will show

[0, 1]
[5, 4]
[2, 7]
[7, 9]
[1, 2]
[4, 0]

but

        foreach (var entry in new SortedDictionary<int, int>(dict)) // or SortedList
            Console.WriteLine(entry);

will show

[0, 1]
[1, 2]
[2, 7]
[4, 0]
[5, 4]
[7, 9]

The question of whether to choose SortedList or SortedDictionary is answered here.

Sorting a dictionary

1 Answers1