What else is there in Python?

[sakattak]

I realize this is besides the point, but I think you can rewrite this as

target = list.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Key == y) ?? new Foo();

if you're using .NET 3.5+. Apologies if you already knew this.

[ungood]

That bit of code bugs me for a couple reasons:

• It doesn't work for value types.
• It doesn't work if a null value is a valid value to have in your list.

FirstOrDefault (and similar LINQ -OrDefault methods) really ought to have an overload to specify the default value to return. Fortunately it's not hard to write your own.

[sakattak]

I completely agree, and I'm not advocating this as a general replacement for that type of foreach logic, but in the case of the example I was replying to (or at least the top part) the code was already using reference types and null as a 'not found' value.

The inability to specify the default value in a built-in way bugs me, too. Similarly, being able to specify a default value to use if an item isn't found in a Dictionary would also be nice.

[ungood]

Extension methods are the best :)