How to Add or Subtract Days, Months, or Years from a Date in C#

Manipulating dates is a common task in C# applications, whether for scheduling, logging, or calculations.

The DateTime and DateOnly structures provide built-in methods to add or subtract days, months, years, hours, and minutes efficiently.

Adding and Subtracting Days

Use the AddDays method to modify a DateTime instance:

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        DateTime today = DateTime.Now;
        DateTime nextWeek = today.AddDays(7);
        DateTime lastWeek = today.AddDays(-7);

        Console.WriteLine($"Today: {today:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Next Week: {nextWeek:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Last Week: {lastWeek:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
    }
}

Adding and Subtracting Months

Use the AddMonths method to adjust the month while automatically handling month-end variations:

DateTime currentDate = new DateTime(2025, 3, 31);
DateTime nextMonth = currentDate.AddMonths(1);
DateTime previousMonth = currentDate.AddMonths(-1);

Console.WriteLine($"Current Date: {currentDate:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
Console.WriteLine($"Next Month: {nextMonth:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
Console.WriteLine($"Previous Month: {previousMonth:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");

Adding and Subtracting Years

Use the AddYears method to adjust the year, handling leap years automatically:

DateTime date = new DateTime(2024, 2, 29);
DateTime nextYear = date.AddYears(1);
DateTime previousYear = date.AddYears(-1);

Console.WriteLine($"Original Date: {date:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
Console.WriteLine($"Next Year: {nextYear:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
Console.WriteLine($"Previous Year: {previousYear:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");

Adding and Subtracting Hours

Use the AddHours method to modify the hour component:

DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
DateTime inFiveHours = now.AddHours(5);
DateTime fiveHoursAgo = now.AddHours(-5);

Console.WriteLine($"Current Time: {now:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
Console.WriteLine($"In 5 Hours: {inFiveHours:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
Console.WriteLine($"5 Hours Ago: {fiveHoursAgo:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");

Adding and Subtracting Minutes

Use the AddMinutes method to modify the minute component:

DateTime currentTime = DateTime.Now;
DateTime inThirtyMinutes = currentTime.AddMinutes(30);
DateTime thirtyMinutesAgo = currentTime.AddMinutes(-30);

Console.WriteLine($"Current Time: {currentTime:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
Console.WriteLine($"In 30 Minutes: {inThirtyMinutes:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");
Console.WriteLine($"30 Minutes Ago: {thirtyMinutesAgo:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm}");

Using DateOnly for Simpler Date Manipulation

For applications that don't require time components, DateOnly (introduced in .NET 6) provides a cleaner approach:

DateOnly today = DateOnly.FromDateTime(DateTime.Now);
DateOnly futureDate = today.AddDays(30);

Console.WriteLine($"Today: {today}");
Console.WriteLine($"30 Days Later: {futureDate}");

Conclusion

C# provides built-in methods for adjusting dates effortlessly. Whether working with DateTime or DateOnly, these functions ensure accurate date calculations, even when dealing with leap years, month-end scenarios, hours, and minutes.

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Related

Reading a file line by line is useful when handling large files without loading everything into memory at once.

✅ Best Practice: Use File.ReadLines() which is more memory efficient.

Example

foreach (string line in File.ReadLines("file.txt"))
{
    Console.WriteLine(line);
}

Why use ReadLines()?

Reads one line at a time, reducing overall memory usage. Ideal for large files (e.g., logs, CSVs).

Alternative: Use StreamReader (More Control)

For scenarios where you need custom processing while reading the contents of the file:

using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader("file.txt"))
{
    string? line;
    while ((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(line);
    }
}

Why use StreamReader?

Lets you handle exceptions, encoding, and buffering. Supports custom processing (e.g., search for a keyword while reading).

When to Use ReadAllLines()? If you need all lines at once, use:

string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines("file.txt");

Caution: Loads the entire file into memory—avoid for large files!

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When working with SQL Server, you may often need to count the number of unique values in a specific column. This is useful for analyzing data, detecting duplicates, and understanding dataset distributions.

Using COUNT(DISTINCT column_name)

To count the number of unique values in a column, SQL Server provides the COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) function. Here’s a simple example:

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT column_name) AS distinct_count
FROM table_name;

This query will return the number of unique values in column_name.

Counting Distinct Values Across Multiple Columns

If you need to count distinct combinations of multiple columns, you can use a subquery:

SELECT COUNT(*) AS distinct_count
FROM (SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2 FROM table_name) AS subquery;

This approach ensures that only unique pairs of column1 and column2 are counted.

Why Use COUNT DISTINCT?

  • Helps in identifying unique entries in a dataset.
  • Useful for reporting and analytics.
  • Efficient way to check for duplicates.

By leveraging COUNT(DISTINCT column_name), you can efficiently analyze your database and extract meaningful insights. Happy querying!

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Slow initial load times can drive users away from your React application. One powerful technique to improve performance is lazy loading - loading components only when they're needed.

Let's explore how to implement this in React.

The Problem with Eager Loading

By default, React bundles all your components together, forcing users to download everything upfront. This makes navigation much quicker and more streamlined once this initial download is complete.

However, depending on the size of your application, it could also create a long initial load time.

import HeavyComponent from './HeavyComponent';
import AnotherHeavyComponent from './AnotherHeavyComponent';

function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      {/* These components load even if user never sees them */}
      <HeavyComponent />
      <AnotherHeavyComponent />
    </div>
  );
}

React.lazy() to the Rescue

React.lazy() lets you defer loading components until they're actually needed:

import React, { lazy, Suspense } from 'react';

// Components are now loaded only when rendered
const HeavyComponent = lazy(() => import('./HeavyComponent'));
const AnotherHeavyComponent = lazy(() => import('./AnotherHeavyComponent'));

function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
        <HeavyComponent />
        <AnotherHeavyComponent />
      </Suspense>
    </div>
  );
}

Route-Based Lazy Loading

Combine with React Router for even better performance:

import React, { lazy, Suspense } from 'react';
import { BrowserRouter, Routes, Route } from 'react-router-dom';

const Home = lazy(() => import('./pages/Home'));
const Dashboard = lazy(() => import('./pages/Dashboard'));
const Settings = lazy(() => import('./pages/Settings'));

function App() {
  return (
    <BrowserRouter>
      <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
        <Routes>
          <Route path="/" element={<Home />} />
          <Route path="/dashboard" element={<Dashboard />} />
          <Route path="/settings" element={<Settings />} />
        </Routes>
      </Suspense>
    </BrowserRouter>
  );
}

Implement these techniques in your React application today and watch your load times improve dramatically!

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