HashSet limit - how to proceed?

Question

My program creates custom objects, I want to get a distinct list of. So I want to use a set and add object by object. The set would prevent duplicates. And at last I have a set of unique objects.

I would usually use a HashSet, because I don't need a sorted set. Only, there are so many different potential objects. More than 2^32. The GetHashCode function returns an int, so this cannot work as a unique key for my objects.

I assume that I cannot use the HashSet hence and must use the slower SortedSet and have my object implement IComparable / CompareTo. Is this correct? Or is there a way to have a HashSet with long hash codes?

Answer 1

GetHashCode does return an int, but if the comparison for the hash codes determines they are the same, it folllows by calling the Equals method (which you should override).

So, no, you don't have to switch. You can keep using the same old lovable HashSet (as long as you don't run out of memory).