C# / .NET - get first 2 characters from string

In this article, we would like to show you how to get the first 2 characters from a string in C#.

Quick solution: 

String text = "1234";
String firstCharacters = text.Substring(0, 2);

Console.WriteLine(firstCharacters);  // 12

Practical example

The below example shows how to use Substring() method to get the first 2 characters from the text string.

using System;

public class StringUtils
{
    public static String getFirstCharacters(String text, int charactersCount)
    {
        int offset = Math.Min(charactersCount, text.Length);
        return text.Substring(0, offset);
    }

    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(getFirstCharacters("1234", 2));  // 12
        Console.WriteLine(getFirstCharacters("123", 2));  // 12
        Console.WriteLine(getFirstCharacters("12", 2));  // 12
        Console.WriteLine(getFirstCharacters("1", 2));  // 1
        Console.WriteLine(getFirstCharacters("", 2));  //
    }
}

Output: 

12
12
12
1