ListDiff

Calculate a diff between any two lists and optionally merge them to aid in synchronizing data.

Installation

dotnet add package ListDiff

Diffing

A ListDiff object creates diff actions when it is constructed.

using ListDiff;

var diff = new ListDiff<char, char> ("abc", "ac");

Console.WriteLine (diff);

Merging

Merging is a way to change a given list so that it mirrors another list. This is useful for updating data-bound control lists to reflect new data.

For example:

// This list is data-bound to the UI
ObservableCollection<Person> DisplayList; 

// This function fetches new data
Task<List<Person>> GetNewListAsync () {}

// Here's how to update the UI
async Task UpdateUI ()
{
    var newList = await GetNewListAsync ();

    DisplayList.MergeInto (newList, (x, y) => x.Id == y.Id);
}

The UpdateUI will call Insert and RemoveAt on DisplayList to make sure the UI is showing the latest data with the minimal amount of changes.