ICollection(T) Interface (System.Collections.Generic)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

ICollection<(Of <(T>)>) Interface

Updated: November 2007

Defines methods to manipulate generic collections.

Namespace: System.Collections.Generic
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Interface ICollection(Of T) _
    Implements IEnumerable(Of T), IEnumerable

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As ICollection(Of T)

public interface ICollection<T> : IEnumerable<T>, 
    IEnumerable

Visual C++

generic<typename T>
public interface class ICollection : IEnumerable<T>, 
    IEnumerable

J# supports the use of generic APIs, but not the declaration of new ones.

JScript

JScript does not support generic types or methods.

Type Parameters

T: The type of the elements in the collection.

Remarks

The ICollection<(Of <(T>)>) interface is the base interface for classes in the System.Collections.Generic namespace.

The ICollection<(Of <(T>)>) interface extends IEnumerable<(Of <(T>)>); IDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>) and IList<(Of <(T>)>) are more specialized interfaces that extend ICollection<(Of <(T>)>). A IDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>) implementation is a collection of key/value pairs, like the Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>) class. A IList<(Of <(T>)>) implementation is a collection of values, and its members can be accessed by index, like the List<(Of <(T>)>) class.

Some collections that limit access to their elements, like the Queue<(Of <(T>)>) class and the Stack<(Of <(T>)>) class, directly implement the ICollection<(Of <(T>)>) interface.

If neither the IDictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>) interface nor the IList<(Of <(T>)>) interface meet the requirements of the required collection, derive the new collection class from the ICollection<(Of <(T>)>) interface instead for more flexibility.

Platforms

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

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