Difference between PrincipalSearcher and DirectorySearcher

Question

I see Active Directory examples that use PrincipalSearcher and other examples that do the same thing but use DirectorySearcher. What is the differe

Answer 1

PrincipalSearcher is used to query the Directory for Groups or Users. DirectorySearcher is used to query all kinds of objects.

I used DirectorySearcher to get groups before then I discovered PrincipalSearcher so when I replaced the former with the latter, the speed of my program improved (maybe it was just PrincipalSearcher that created a better query for me. For what I care, PrincipalSearcher was just easier to use and more suitable for the task of getting pricipals.

DirectorySearcher on the other hand is more general as it can get other kinds of objects. This is why it can't be strongly typed as mentioned in the comments. PrincipalSearcher is all about principals so it will have strongly typed objects that pertain to principals, and this is why also you don't need to tell it to get you an object of kind user or group, it will be implied by the Principal classes you use.