How to select minimum element without transforming it?

Question

IEnumerable<T>.Min(Func<T, TResult>)

performs transformation first and then selects minimum value. Is there any standard linq operation I can perform to return original element? I get that I can use Min() and then Where() to achieve this, but this has running time of O(2n) instead of optimal O(n). To illustrate what I mean:

var fooList = new List<Foo>
{ 
    new Foo { Bar1 = 10, Bar2 = 0 },
    new Foo { Bar1 = 8, Bar2 = 1 },
    new Foo { Bar1 = 6, Bar2 = 7 }
};

var foo = fooList.Min(f => f.Bar2); // magic happens here
// foo is of type Foo with Bar1 = 10 Bar2 = 0

Possible duplicate of [How to use LINQ to select object with minimum or maximum property value](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/914109/how-to-use-linq-to-select-object-with-minimum-or-maximum-property-value) — BJ Myers, Oct 02 '15 at 15:38

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 02 '15 at 15:39

3

There is no standard operator but you can utilize Aggregate:

 var foo = fooList.Aggregate((f1, f2)=> f1.Bar2 < f2.Bar2 ? f1 : f2);

answered Oct 02 '15 at 15:39

Eren Ersönmez

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Aggregate is the best – Hogan Oct 02 '15 at 15:43

How to select minimum element without transforming it?

1 Answers1