Hi,
  I have been using a variety of generic collections and I really like
them, but I have just noticed something weird ...

If you have a generic Dictionary (or SortedList), you can retrieve elements
from the list by index (I think).
So:
   Dictionary<string, string> ThisStringDictionary = new Dictionary<string,
string>();
   ---Code to populate dictionary---
   string ThisValue = ThisStringDictionary[0]; //This should get you the
value of the first element of the dictionary and throw no errors. Right?

I have a SortedList which is defined as
   SortedList <string, MyCustomType> MySortedList = new  SortedList
<string, MyCustomType>();
but, the fact is that almost all of the keys are, in fact integers being
treated as strings.

So I have situations where I have something like :
    SortedList <string, MyCustomType> MySortedList = new  SortedList
<string, MyCustomType>();
    ---Code to populate MySortedList ---
but now
   MySortedList [0] != MySortedList ["0"];

This is all OK, the computer differentiates the two just fine.

My real question is what if I have a SortedList <int, anyType>? How can it
tell if I am asking for an element by index or by key?
I am guessing that the fact that I have this questions means I am missing
something. Can anyone fill me in?
Thanks!
Ethan

Ethan Strauss Ph.D.
Bioinformatics Scientist
Promega Corporation
2800 Woods Hollow Rd.
Madison, WI 53711
608-274-4330
800-356-9526
ethan.strauss@promega.com