This table gives you an overview of all collections in the System.Collections and System.Collections.Specialized namespaces.
| Class | Key | Value | Remarks |
| System.Array | ? | Predefined size, used for passing data around. | |
| ArrayList | Object | Easy to work with, provides basic collection functionality and can easily be converted to an Array. | |
| BitArray | Boolean |
Manages a compact array of bit values, which are represented
as Booleans
|
|
| CollectionBase | ? | Abstract base for building your own collection classes. | |
| DictionaryBase | Object | ? | Abstract base for building your own collection classes using a key-value pair. |
| HashTable | Object | Object | Provides high performance access to items in the key-value pair collection, by a specific key. |
| Queue | Object | Implements the FIFO mechanism. | |
| ReadOnlyCollectionBase | Object | Abstract base for building your own read-only collection classes. | |
| SortedList | Object (sorted) | Object | Provides access to items in the collection by a specific key or an index (GetByIndex(int)). |
| Stack | Object | Implements the LIFO mechanism. | |
|
Specialized.HybridDictionary
|
Object | Object | Uses internally a ListDictionary class when the collection is small, and switches automatically to a Hashtable class when the collection gets large. |
| Specialized.ListDictionary | Object | Object | Is designed to be used for collections with 10 or less items, while the Hashtable is designed to contain more items. |
| Specialized.NameObjectCollectionBase | String | ? | Abstract base for building your own collection classes using a key-value pair. |
| Specialized.NameValueCollection | String (sorted) | String | NameValueCollection class is the strong type equivalent of the SortedList class, for the String class. |
| Specialized.StringCollection | Object | Strongly typed ArrayList for the String class. | |
| Specialized.StringDictionary | String | String | Strongly typed Hashtable for the String class, not sorted. |
Read also Jan Tielens article on the MSDN Belux website.
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