Introduction

In order to sort a list of entities in a descending order with LINQ, we use the OrderByDescending method.

OrderByDescending

The OrderByDescending method allows you to sort a list of elements in a descending order.

Examples

Simple usage

List<int> list = new List<int> { 8000, 12, 900, 4, 1, 200};

List<int> values = list.OrderByDescending(l => l).ToList(); // { 8000, 900, 200, 12, 4, 1}

Note: we use the ToList method in order to avoid the following casting error:

Advanced usage

Besides using primitive types with the OrderByDescending method, we can also use reference types.

public class Person {

    public string FullName { get; set; }

    public int Age { get; set; }
}

List<Person> people = new List<Person> {
    new Person { FullName = "Marc Thompson", Age = 40},
    new Person { FullName = "Helen Walsh", Age = 53},
    new Person { FullName = "Kelvin Terry", Age = 23},
    new Person { FullName = "Carolyn Poole", Age = 17}
}; 

List<Person> values = people.OrderByDescending(l => l.Age).ToList(); // sorting people based on their age in a descending order

    /*
    Result:
    Helen Walsh, 53
    Marc Thompson, 40
    Kelvin Terry, 23
    Carolyn Poole, 17
    */

Namespace

To use the OrderByDescending method, you have to include this namespace:

using System.Linq;

See also

• LINQ Order By query