How to Efficiently Count Lines in a Text File?

Text file line count counting method

Counting the number of lines in a text file is a common task in programming. Here are a few efficient methods:

1. Use File.ReadAllLines():

If efficiency is not a major issue, this method is concise and clear:

<code class="language-csharp">var lineCount = File.ReadAllLines(@"C:\file.txt").Length;</code>

While convenient, this method loads the entire file into memory, which can cause performance issues for large files.

2. Use StreamReader:

To improve efficiency, especially when processing large files, it is recommended to use StreamReader:

<code class="language-csharp">var lineCount = 0;
using (var reader = File.OpenText(@"C:\file.txt"))
{
    while (reader.ReadLine() != null)
    {
        lineCount++;
    }
}</code>

This method iterates row by row to avoid memory consumption issues.

Memory usage and efficiency:

It's worth noting that while the first approach is convenient, it consumes more memory by storing the entire file in an array. The second method uses less memory but may not be efficient for smaller files.

Conclusion:

The choice of method depends on the specific requirements of the task. The first method is a quick solution for small files where memory usage is not an issue. For large files, the second method is more efficient in terms of memory consumption.

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