Yesterday I came across an if statement that looked something like this.

if (arg == "a" ||
    arg == "b" ||
    arg == "c" ||
    arg == "d" ||
    arg == "e") 
{
    Console.WriteLine(true);
}

An alternative way of writing this could look like this.

if (new [] { "a", "b", "c", "d", "e" }.Contains(arg))
    Console.WriteLine(true);

I can’t remember in which Github repository I spotted this technique, but I’m sure it was written in something other than C#. I think it works for C# as well though. The language hardly gets in the way, although it would be nice to be able to drop the new.

This is one of these trivial things I tend to geek about. The condition fits on one line now, making the eyes do less work. Also adding a variable is less work; you don’t have to enter and indent accordingly. I think it’s a win in readability, size and maintenance.

But then I stop and wonder: how do you feel about this construct?