[Edit]

C# / .NET - replace first 2 characters in string (range operator ..)

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Created by:

Wade

562

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

Note: range operator .. was introduced in C# 8.0.

Quick solution:

xxxxxxxxxx
 
string text = "ABCD";
string replacement = "xy";
string result = replacement + text[2..];
​
Console.WriteLine(result);  // xyCD

1. Practical examples

Edit

1.1 With `+` and range operator

Edit

In this example, we will take the last 2 characters from the original string and add them to the end of the replacement.

xxxxxxxxxx
 
using System;
​
public class StringUtils
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string text = "ABCD";
        string replacement = "xy";
        string result = replacement + text[2..];
​
        Console.WriteLine(result);  // xyCD
    }
}

1.2 With `string.Concat()` method and range operator

Edit

This approach is equivalent to the above one. Instead of + operator we concatenate the strings using string.Concat() method.

xxxxxxxxxx
 
using System;
​
public class StringUtils
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string text = "ABCD";
        string replacement = "xy";
        string result = string.Concat(replacement, text[2..]);
​
        Console.WriteLine(result);  // xyCD
    }
}

2. Practical example using string `Regex.Replace()` with regex pattern

Edit

In this example, we use Regex.Replace() with "^.{2}" regex to replace the first 2 characters in the text string.

Regex explanation:

^ - matches the beginning of the string,
. - matches any character except linebreaks,
{2} - matches the specified quantity of the previous token (in our case the .).

xxxxxxxxxx
 
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
​
public class StringUtils
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string text = "ABCD";
        string replacement = "xy";
        string pattern = @"^.{2}";
        string result = Regex.Replace(text, pattern, replacement);
​
        Console.WriteLine(result);  // xyCD
    }
}