Best algorithm for synchronizing two IList in C# 2.0
.net, algorithm, c#, list, optimization
Solution
For a start I'd get rid of the mutable struct. Mutable value types are a fundamentally bad thing. (As are public fields, IMO.)
It's probably worth building a Dictionary so you can easily compare the contents of the two lists. Once you've got that easy way of checking for presence/absence, the rest should be straightforward.
To be honest though, it sounds like you basically want L2 to be a complete copy of L1... clear L2 and just call AddRange? Or is the point that you also want to take other actions while you're changing L2?
Problem
Imagine the following type: ``` public struct Account { public int Id; public double Amount; } ``` What is the best algorithm to synchronize two `IList<Account>` in C# 2.0 ? (No linq) ? The first list (L1) is the reference list, the second (L2) is the one to synchronize according to the first: - All accounts in L2 that are no longer present in L1 must be deleted from L2 - All accounts in L2 that still exist in L1 must be updated (amount attribute) - All accounts that are in L1 but not yet in L2 must be added to L2 The Id identifies accounts. It's no too hard to find a naive and working algorithm, but I would like to know if there is a smart solution to handle this scenario without ruining readability and perfs. EDIT : - Account type doesn't matter, is could be a class, has properties, equality members, etc. - L1 and L2 are not sorted - L2 items could not be replaced by L1 items, they must be updated (field by field, property by property)