What are Generic Collections in C#?

Generic collections in C# are strongly typed collection classes that allow developers to store and manipulate objects of a specific data type without requiring explicit casting. They are provided mainly through the System.Collections.Generic namespace. Common generic collections include: List – ordered collection of items Dictionary – key/value pairs HashSet – collection of unique values Queue – first-in, first-out (FIFO) Stack – last-in, first-out (LIFO) For example: List customers = new List { "John", "Priya", "David" }; Here, the list can contain only string values. The major advantages are type safety, better performance, code readability, and reduced boxing/unboxing compared with non-generic collections such as ArrayList. Developers should also choose collections based on the required operation. For example, a Dictionary is useful for fast key-based lookups, while a List is appropriate for ordered sequential access. In short, generic collections provide a flexible and type-safe way to manage groups of objects in modern C# applications.