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Here is a lesson providing a real-time example of using indexers in C#, covering all essential topics with various examples in a comprehensive 1000-word article.

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Exploring Indexers in C#: Real-Time Example

Indexers in C# allow instances of a class or struct to be accessed using array notation. Let’s delve into a real-time example to understand the practical application of indexers and explore their implementation in different scenarios.

Understanding the Need for Indexers

Consider a scenario where you have a custom collection class, ‘BookCollection,’ which contains a list of books. With the help of an indexer, you can access books in the collection using array notation. Here’s an example illustrating the implementation of an indexer:

using System;

class BookCollection
{
    private string[] books = new string[5];

    public string this[int index]
    {
        get
        {
            if (index < 0 || index >= books.Length)
                throw new IndexOutOfRangeException("Index out of range");

            return books[index];
        }
        set
        {
            if (index < 0 || index >= books.Length)
                throw new IndexOutOfRangeException("Index out of range");

            books[index] = value;
        }
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        BookCollection myBooks = new BookCollection();
        myBooks[0] = "Book1";
        myBooks[1] = "Book2";

        Console.WriteLine("My Books:");
        for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(myBooks[i]);
        }
    }
}

Applying Indexers in Real-Time Scenarios

Indexers can be applied to various real-time scenarios, such as managing a database of students in a school. By using an indexer, you can access students’ information based on their unique IDs. Here’s an example depicting the implementation of an indexer for a student database:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

class StudentDatabase
{
    private Dictionary<int, string> students = new Dictionary<int, string>();

    public string this[int studentId]
    {
        get
        {
            if (!students.ContainsKey(studentId))
                throw new KeyNotFoundException("Student ID not found");

            return students[studentId];
        }
        set
        {
            if (students.ContainsKey(studentId))
                students[studentId] = value;
            else
                students.Add(studentId, value);
        }
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        StudentDatabase database = new StudentDatabase();
        database[1001] = "John Doe";
        database[1002] = "Jane Smith";

        Console.WriteLine("Student Database:");
        Console.WriteLine("Student 1001: " + database[1001]);
        Console.WriteLine("Student 1002: " + database[1002]);
    }
}

By grasping the practical applications of indexers in C#, developers can efficiently manage and access data in custom collections, databases, and various other real-time scenarios, simplifying data retrieval and enhancing code functionality.