LINQ SkipWhile

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the LINQ SkipWhile() method to bypass elements in a sequence until a specified condition is no longer met.

Introduction to the LINQ SkipWhile() method

The LINQ SkipWhile() method allows you to bypass elements in a sequence until a specified condition is no longer true:

IEnumerable<T> SkipWhile<TSource>(
    this IEnumerable<TSource> source,
    Func<TSource, bool> predicate
)Code language: C# (cs)

The SkipWhile() method takes two parameters:

source is an input sequence of elements.
predicate is a function that defines the condition evaluated for each element in the source sequence.

The SkipWhile() method skips elements until the predicate function returns false for an element. It returns a new IEnumerable<TSource> that contains all the remaining elements.

LINQ SkipWhile() method example

The following example uses the SkipWhile() method to skip elements until it finds an element that is greater than 5 and returns the remaining elements:

using static System.Console;

var numbers = new List<int> { 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 4, 9 };

var result = numbers.SkipWhile(x => x <= 5);

foreach (var number in result)
{
    WriteLine(number);
}Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

6
7
8
4
9Code language: C# (cs)

In this example, the SkipWhile() skips numbers 1, 2, and 3 because they make the condition <= 5 true. It returns the remaining numbers 6, 7, 8 4, and 9.

LINQ SkipWhile vs Where

The following table illustrates the differences between the SkipWhile() and Where() methods:

Criteria	`SkipWhile`	`Where`
Purpose	Skips elements until a condition becomes false	Evaluates the condition independently for each element
Condition Evaluation	Evaluates the condition independently for each element	Evaluates condition independently for each element
Usage	Skip initial elements until a condition is met	Filter elements based on a specific condition
Result	Returns remaining elements after the condition is false	Returns elements that satisfy the condition

Summary

Use the LINQ SkipWhile() method to skip initial elements until a condition is met and return the remaining elements in a sequence.

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