Find Distinct Text Using LINQ

Another good use for LINQ popped up today in the forums. The person asked how to get distinct values from a series of text. I once again said LINQ! Here’s the sample text:

Apples, Oranges, Apples, Melons

We can use the Split method to turn this into an array. We can then use the Distinct method to only return the distinct values. Here’s the code:

C#

var unique = "Apples, Oranges, Apples, Melons"
    .Split(new string[] { ", " },
    StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).Distinct();
foreach (var item in unique)
{
    Response.Write(item + "<br />");
}

VB.NET

Dim unique = "Apples, Oranges, Apples, Melons" _
.Split(New String(){", "},StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).Distinct()
For Each item In unique
          Response.Write(item & "<br />")
Next item

The result is below: