Is there a built-in function to repeat a string or char in .NET?

Question

Is there a function in C# that returns x times of a given char or string? Or must I code it myself?

this is not an exact duplicate: this is a way to do it. Dim line As String = New [String]("-"c, 100) — KevinDeus, Apr 28 '12 at 00:49
Well, better late than never. I voted for re-opening this as it is **not** a duplicate of linked possible duplicate. [Best way to repeat a character in C#](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/411752/best-way-to-repeat-a-character-in-c-sharp) does **not** cover repeating strings but only characters! — Nope, Dec 13 '12 at 13:09
possible duplicate of [Can I "multiply" a string (in C#)?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/532892/can-i-multiply-a-string-in-c) — Deanna, Mar 05 '14 at 08:50
possible duplicate of [Is there an easy way to return a string repeated X number of times?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3754582/is-there-an-easy-way-to-return-a-string-repeated-x-number-of-times) — Pekka, Apr 04 '14 at 09:59

score 66 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 06 '10 at 20:43

66

string.Join("", Enumerable.Repeat("ab", 2));

Returns

"abab"

And

string.Join("", Enumerable.Repeat('a', 2))

Returns

"aa"

answered Nov 06 '10 at 20:43

Kirk Woll

3

slightly more correct answers below -- use the native 'join' for characters [(1)](http://stackoverflow.com/a/19248082/1037948), or `string.Concat` for strings [(2)](http://stackoverflow.com/a/15390834/1037948) – drzaus Jan 14 '14 at 17:54
If code already uses Linq, use `string.Join("", Enumerable.Repeat("ab", 2).ToArray());` – Sanjay Apr 04 '14 at 12:10
For chars as mentioned new string(char ch, int count) is better. An improvement of this could be to use Concat. – Corniel Nobel Sep 21 '17 at 11:35

score 60 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 13 '13 at 16:21

60

string.Concat(Enumerable.Repeat("ab", 2));

returns

"abab"

answered Mar 13 '13 at 16:21

Carter Medlin

If code already uses Linq, use `string.Concat(Enumerable.Repeat("ab", 2).ToArray());` – Sanjay Apr 04 '14 at 12:13

score 31 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 08 '13 at 12:45

31

For strings you should indeed use Kirk's solution:

string.Join("", Enumerable.Repeat("ab", 2));

However for chars you might as well use the built-in (more efficient) string constructor:

new string('a', 2); // returns aa

answered Oct 08 '13 at 12:45

Schiavini

Deserved 1 point for Mentioning the proper way to repeat Character. You can see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/411752/best-way-to-repeat-a-character-in-c-sharp too. Good Luck. – QMaster Dec 09 '14 at 15:28

score 4 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 03 '17 at 08:03

4

new String('*', 5)

edited Aug 03 '17 at 08:03

bluish

answered Jan 28 '16 at 14:08

Eli Dagan

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 13 '19 at 14:49

4

The best solution is the built in string function:

 Strings.StrDup(2, "a")

answered Jan 13 '19 at 14:49

Chris Raisin

Not the best, since you need to reference and import Microsoft.VisualBasic. – HasanG Jan 13 '19 at 15:45
for me, it is the best because I am using VB in a project! – Dejan Dozet Jan 04 '23 at 18:51

5 Answers5