String.Replace ignoring case

Question

I have a string called \"hello world\"

I need to replace the word \"world\" to \"csharp\"

for this I use:

string.Replace(\"World\", \"csharp\         


        

Answer 1

2.5X FASTER and MOST EFFECTIVE method than other's regular expressions methods:

/// 

/// Returns a new string in which all occurrences of a specified string in the current instance are replaced with another 
/// specified string according the type of search to use for the specified string.
/// 
/// The string performing the replace method.
/// The string to be replaced.
/// The string replace all occurrences of . 
/// If value is equal to null, than all occurrences of  will be removed from the .
/// One of the enumeration values that specifies the rules for the search.
/// A string that is equivalent to the current string except that all instances of  are replaced with . 
/// If  is not found in the current instance, the method returns the current instance unchanged.
[DebuggerStepThrough]
public static string Replace(this string str,
    string oldValue, string @newValue,
    StringComparison comparisonType)
{

    // Check inputs.
    if (str == null)
    {
        // Same as original .NET C# string.Replace behavior.
        throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(str));
    }
    if (str.Length == 0)
    {
        // Same as original .NET C# string.Replace behavior.
        return str;
    }
    if (oldValue == null)
    {
        // Same as original .NET C# string.Replace behavior.
        throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(oldValue));
    }
    if (oldValue.Length == 0)
    {
        // Same as original .NET C# string.Replace behavior.
        throw new ArgumentException("String cannot be of zero length.");
    }


    //if (oldValue.Equals(newValue, comparisonType))
    //{
    //This condition has no sense
    //It will prevent method from replacesing: "Example", "ExAmPlE", "EXAMPLE" to "example"
    //return str;
    //}



    // Prepare string builder for storing the processed string.
    // Note: StringBuilder has a better performance than String by 30-40%.
    StringBuilder resultStringBuilder = new StringBuilder(str.Length);



    // Analyze the replacement: replace or remove.
    bool isReplacementNullOrEmpty = string.IsNullOrEmpty(@newValue);



    // Replace all values.
    const int valueNotFound = -1;
    int foundAt;
    int startSearchFromIndex = 0;
    while ((foundAt = str.IndexOf(oldValue, startSearchFromIndex, comparisonType)) != valueNotFound)
    {

        // Append all characters until the found replacement.
        int @charsUntilReplacment = foundAt - startSearchFromIndex;
        bool isNothingToAppend = @charsUntilReplacment == 0;
        if (!isNothingToAppend)
        {
            resultStringBuilder.Append(str, startSearchFromIndex, @charsUntilReplacment);
        }



        // Process the replacement.
        if (!isReplacementNullOrEmpty)
        {
            resultStringBuilder.Append(@newValue);
        }


        // Prepare start index for the next search.
        // This needed to prevent infinite loop, otherwise method always start search 
        // from the start of the string. For example: if an oldValue == "EXAMPLE", newValue == "example"
        // and comparisonType == "any ignore case" will conquer to replacing:
        // "EXAMPLE" to "example" to "example" to "example" … infinite loop.
        startSearchFromIndex = foundAt + oldValue.Length;
        if (startSearchFromIndex == str.Length)
        {
            // It is end of the input string: no more space for the next search.
            // The input string ends with a value that has already been replaced. 
            // Therefore, the string builder with the result is complete and no further action is required.
            return resultStringBuilder.ToString();
        }
    }


    // Append the last part to the result.
    int @charsUntilStringEnd = str.Length - startSearchFromIndex;
    resultStringBuilder.Append(str, startSearchFromIndex, @charsUntilStringEnd);


    return resultStringBuilder.ToString();

}

Note: ignore case == StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase as parameter for StringComparison comparisonType. It is the fastest, case-insensitive way to replace all values.

---

Advantages of this method:

• High CPU and MEMORY efficiency;
• It is the fastest solution, 2.5 times faster than other's methods with regular expressions (proof in the end);
• Suitable for removing parts from the input string (set newValue to null), optimized for this;
• Same as original .NET C# string.Replace behavior, same exceptions;
• Well commented, easy to understand;
• Simpler – no regular expressions. Regular expressions are always slower because of their versatility (even compiled);
• This method is well tested and there are no hidden flaws like infinite loop in other's solutions, even highly rated:

@AsValeO: Not works with Regex language elements, so it's not universal method

@Mike Stillion: There is a problem with this code. If the text in new is a superset of the text in old, this can produce an endless loop.

---

Benchmark-proof: this solution is 2.59X times faster than regex from @Steve B., code:

// Results:
// 1/2. Regular expression solution: 4486 milliseconds
// 2/2. Current solution: 1727 milliseconds — 2.59X times FASTER! than regex!

// Notes: the test was started 5 times, the result is an average; release build.

const int benchmarkIterations = 1000000;
const string sourceString = "aaaaddsdsdsdsdsd";
const string oldValue = "D";
const string newValue = "Fod";
long totalLenght = 0;

Stopwatch regexStopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew();
string tempString1;
for (int i = 0; i < benchmarkIterations; i++)
{
    tempString1 = sourceString;
    tempString1 = ReplaceCaseInsensitive(tempString1, oldValue, newValue);

    totalLenght = totalLenght + tempString1.Length;
}
regexStopwatch.Stop();



Stopwatch currentSolutionStopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew();
string tempString2;
for (int i = 0; i < benchmarkIterations; i++)
{
    tempString2 = sourceString;
    tempString2 = tempString2.Replace(oldValue, newValue,
        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);

    totalLenght = totalLenght + tempString2.Length;
}
currentSolutionStopwatch.Stop();

---

Original idea – @Darky711; thanks @MinerR for StringBuilder.