Is there a sorted collection type in .NET?

I'm looking for a container that keeps all its items in order. I looked at SortedList, but that requires a separate key, and does not allow duplicate keys. I could also just use an unsorted container and explicitly sort it after each insert.

Usage:

Occasional insert
Frequent traversal in order
Ideally not working with keys separate from the actual object, using a compare function to sort.
Stable sorting for equivalent objects is desired, but not required.
Random access is not required.

I realize I can just build myself a balanced tree structure, I was just wondering if the framework already contains such a beast.

c# .net sorting containers

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I would extend your own list class that, as you mentioned, simply sorts after every insert. Since your inserts are infrequent the performance hit would be minimal, and sorting a nearly sorted list is quick, in any case. Extend the Generic List and override the Add method to sort immediately. If performance becomes an issue you can insert in place to save some time. Furthermore you can queue up your inserts to do a single traversal insertion for all the values you want to insert.

answered 2008-10-13T02:35:34.220

Is there a sorted collection type in .NET?

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