A generic list of anonymous class

You could do:

var list = new[] { o, o1 }.ToList();

There are lots of ways of skinning this cat, but basically they'll all use type inference somewhere - which means you've got to be calling a generic method (possibly as an extension method). Another example might be:

public static List<T> CreateList<T>(params T[] elements)
{
     return new List<T>(elements);
}

var list = CreateList(o, o1);

You get the idea :)

Not exactly, but you can say List<object> and things will work. However, list[0].Id won't work.

This will work at runtime in C# 4.0 by having a List<dynamic>, that is you won't get IntelliSense.

If you are using C# 7 or above, you can use tuple types instead of anonymous types.

var myList = new List<(int IntProp, string StrProp)>();
myList.Add((IntProp: 123, StrProp: "XYZ"));

I guess

List<T> CreateEmptyGenericList<T>(T example) {
    return new List<T>();
}

void something() {
    var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "foo" };
    var emptyListOfAnonymousType = CreateEmptyGenericList(o);
}

will work.

You might also consider writing it like this:

void something() {
    var String = string.Emtpy;
    var Integer = int.MinValue;
    var emptyListOfAnonymousType = CreateEmptyGenericList(new { Id = Integer, Name = String });
}

I'm very surprised nobody has suggested collection initializers. This way can only add objects when the list is created hence the name however it seems like the nicest way of doing it. No need to create an array then convert it to a list.

var list = new List<dynamic>() 
{ 
    new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" }, 
    new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" } 
};

You can always use object instead of dynamic but trying to keep it in a true generic way then dynamic makes more sense.

You can do it this way:

var o = new { Id = 1, Name = "Foo" };
var o1 = new { Id = 2, Name = "Bar" };

var array = new[] { o, o1 };
var list = array.ToList();

list.Add(new { Id = 3, Name = "Yeah" });

It seems a little "hacky" to me, but it works - if you really need to have a list and can't just use the anonymous array.

Deriving from this answer, I came up with two methods that could do the task:

    /// <summary>
    /// Create a list of the given anonymous class. <paramref name="definition"/> isn't called, it is only used
    /// for the needed type inference. This overload is for when you don't have an instance of the anon class
    /// and don't want to make one to make the list.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="definition"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
#pragma warning disable RECS0154 // Parameter is never used
    public static List<T> CreateListOfAnonType<T>(Func<T> definition)
#pragma warning restore RECS0154 // Parameter is never used
    {
        return new List<T>();
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// Create a list of the given anonymous class. <paramref name="definition"/> isn't added to the list, it is
    /// only used for the needed type inference. This overload is for when you do have an instance of the anon
    /// class and don't want the compiler to waste time making a temp class to define the type.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="definition"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
#pragma warning disable RECS0154 // Parameter is never used
    public static List<T> CreateListOfAnonType<T>(T definition)
#pragma warning restore RECS0154 // Parameter is never used
    {
        return new List<T>();
    }

You can use the methods like

var emptyList = CreateListOfAnonType(()=>new { Id = default(int), Name = default(string) });
//or
var existingAnonInstance = new { Id = 59, Name = "Joe" };
var otherEmptyList = CreateListOfAnonType(existingAnonInstance);

This answer has a similar idea, but I didn't see it until after I made those methods.