IEnumerator<T> Interface

Represents an enumerator for a generic collection.

Syntax

public interface IEnumerator<out T> : System.Collections.IEnumerator, System.IDisposable

Type Parameters

• T The type of objects to enumerate. The enumerator is covariant.

Members

Methods

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Current

T Current { get; }

Gets the element in the collection at the current position of the enumerator.

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Dispose

void IDisposable.Dispose()

Performs application-defined tasks associated with freeing, releasing, or resetting unmanaged resources.

This method is part of the IDisposable interface.

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MoveNext

bool MoveNext()

Advances the enumerator to the next element of the collection.

Returns:
true if the enumerator was successfully advanced to the next element; false if the enumerator has passed the end of the collection.

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Reset

void Reset()

Sets the enumerator to its initial position before the first element in the collection.

Remarks

The T type parameter is used to specify the type of objects to enumerate. This generic interface inherits from System.Collections.IEnumerator and System.IDisposable.

When you use a for each loop (For Each in Visual Basic) to iterate through a collection, the compiler generates code that uses this interface.

The T in IEnumerator<T> is declared as out, which means the interface is covariant. Covariance allows you to use a more derived type than the one originally specified. For example, you can assign an IEnumerator<string> to an IEnumerator<object>.

Examples

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        List<string> names = new List<string>() { "Alice", "Bob", "Charlie" };

        // Using foreach loop (compiler uses IEnumerator internally)
        Console.WriteLine("Using foreach:");
        foreach (string name in names)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(name);
        }

        Console.WriteLine("\nUsing IEnumerator manually:");
        // Manually using IEnumerator
        using (IEnumerator<string> enumerator = names.GetEnumerator())
        {
            while (enumerator.MoveNext())
            {
                string currentName = enumerator.Current;
                Console.WriteLine(currentName);
            }
        }
    }
}