List<T>.TrimExcess Method

.NET Framework 4.6 and 4.5

Sets the capacity to the actual number of elements in the List<T>, if that number is less than a threshold value.

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

Syntax

C++

JScript

public void TrimExcess()

Remarks

This method can be used to minimize a collection's memory overhead if no new elements will be added to the collection. The cost of reallocating and copying a large List<T> can be considerable, however, so the TrimExcess method does nothing if the list is at more than 90 percent of capacity. This avoids incurring a large reallocation cost for a relatively small gain.

Note
The current threshold of 90 percent might change in future releases.

This method is an O(n) operation, where n is Count.

To reset a List<T> to its initial state, call the Clear method before calling the TrimExcess method. Trimming an empty List<T> sets the capacity of the List<T> to the default capacity.

The capacity can also be set using the Capacity property.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to check the capacity and count of a List<T> that contains a simple business object, and illustrates using the TrimExcess method to remove extra capacity.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
// Simple business object. A PartId is used to identify a part  
// but the part name be different for the same Id. 
public class Part : IEquatable<Part>
{
    public string PartName { get; set; }
    public int PartId { get; set; }
    public override string ToString()
    {
        return "ID: " + PartId + "   Name: " + PartName;
    }
    public override bool Equals(object obj)
    {
        if (obj == null) return false;
        Part objAsPart = obj as Part;
        if (objAsPart == null) return false;
        else return Equals(objAsPart);
    }
    public override int GetHashCode()
    {
        return base.GetHashCode();
    }
    public bool Equals(Part other)
    {
        if (other == null) return false;
        return (this.PartId.Equals(other.PartId));
    }
    // Should also override == and != operators.

}
public class Example
{

    public static void Main()
    {
        List<Part> parts = new List<Part>();

        Console.WriteLine("\nCapacity: {0}", parts.Capacity);

        parts.Add(new Part() { PartName = "crank arm", PartId = 1234 });
        parts.Add(new Part() { PartName = "chain ring", PartId = 1334 });
        parts.Add(new Part() { PartName = "seat", PartId = 1434 });
        parts.Add(new Part() { PartName = "cassette", PartId = 1534 });
        parts.Add(new Part() { PartName = "shift lever", PartId = 1634 }); ;

        Console.WriteLine();
        foreach (Part aPart in parts)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(aPart);
        }

        Console.WriteLine("\nCapacity: {0}", parts.Capacity);
        Console.WriteLine("Count: {0}", parts.Count);

        parts.TrimExcess();
        Console.WriteLine("\nTrimExcess()");
        Console.WriteLine("Capacity: {0}", parts.Capacity);
        Console.WriteLine("Count: {0}", parts.Count);

        parts.Clear();
        Console.WriteLine("\nClear()");
        Console.WriteLine("Capacity: {0}", parts.Capacity);
        Console.WriteLine("Count: {0}", parts.Count);
    }
    /*
     This code example produces the following output. 
            Capacity: 0

            ID: 1234   Name: crank arm
            ID: 1334   Name: chain ring
            ID: 1434   Name: seat
            ID: 1534   Name: cassette
            ID: 1634   Name: shift lever

            Capacity: 8
            Count: 5

            TrimExcess()
            Capacity: 5
            Count: 5

            Clear()
            Capacity: 5
            Count: 0
     */
}

The following example demonstrates the TrimExcess method. Several properties and methods of the List<T> class are used to add, insert, and remove items from a list of strings. Then the TrimExcess method is used to reduce the capacity to match the count, and the Capacity and Count properties are displayed. If the unused capacity had been less than 10 percent of total capacity, the list would not have been resized. Finally, the contents of the list are cleared.

C++

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        List<string> dinosaurs = new List<string>();

        Console.WriteLine("\nCapacity: {0}", dinosaurs.Capacity);

        dinosaurs.Add("Tyrannosaurus");
        dinosaurs.Add("Amargasaurus");
        dinosaurs.Add("Mamenchisaurus");
        dinosaurs.Add("Deinonychus");
        dinosaurs.Add("Compsognathus");
        Console.WriteLine();
        foreach(string dinosaur in dinosaurs)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
        }

        Console.WriteLine("\nCapacity: {0}", dinosaurs.Capacity);
        Console.WriteLine("Count: {0}", dinosaurs.Count);

        Console.WriteLine("\nContains(\"Deinonychus\"): {0}",
            dinosaurs.Contains("Deinonychus"));

        Console.WriteLine("\nInsert(2, \"Compsognathus\")");
        dinosaurs.Insert(2, "Compsognathus");

        Console.WriteLine();
        foreach(string dinosaur in dinosaurs)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
        }

        // Shows accessing the list using the Item property.
        Console.WriteLine("\ndinosaurs[3]: {0}", dinosaurs[3]);

        Console.WriteLine("\nRemove(\"Compsognathus\")");
        dinosaurs.Remove("Compsognathus");

        Console.WriteLine();
        foreach(string dinosaur in dinosaurs)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
        }

        dinosaurs.TrimExcess();
        Console.WriteLine("\nTrimExcess()");
        Console.WriteLine("Capacity: {0}", dinosaurs.Capacity);
        Console.WriteLine("Count: {0}", dinosaurs.Count);

        dinosaurs.Clear();
        Console.WriteLine("\nClear()");
        Console.WriteLine("Capacity: {0}", dinosaurs.Capacity);
        Console.WriteLine("Count: {0}", dinosaurs.Count);
    }
}

/* This code example produces the following output:

Capacity: 0

Tyrannosaurus
Amargasaurus
Mamenchisaurus
Deinonychus
Compsognathus

Capacity: 8
Count: 5

Contains("Deinonychus"): True

Insert(2, "Compsognathus")

Tyrannosaurus
Amargasaurus
Compsognathus
Mamenchisaurus
Deinonychus
Compsognathus

dinosaurs[3]: Mamenchisaurus

Remove("Compsognathus")

Tyrannosaurus
Amargasaurus
Mamenchisaurus
Deinonychus
Compsognathus

TrimExcess()
Capacity: 5
Count: 5

Clear()
Capacity: 5
Count: 0
 */