title: How to check for null values before Converting a comma Separated string to Generic List
body: <p>I want to convert from a comma separated string value to a Generic List of Strings.  I would like to do that without using some method.</p>
  
  <p>I am using the following code below but this gives me an implicit conversion error.</p>
  
  <pre><code>List&lt;string&gt; lstTags = (string.IsNullOrEmpty(f.TagName) ? new List&lt;string&gt;():
   (new List&lt;string&gt;(f.TagName.Split(','))); 
  </code></pre>