Are you ready for the future of data access in .NET?
At the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2005, Microsoft previewed a new technology, Language-Integrated Query (LINQ). It captured a lot of attention because it addressed the fundamental issue of merging object-oriented applications with relational data. The LINQ project team demonstrated how to use LINQ to query a variety of data sources, such as a SQL Server database, an XML file, and an array, and how to manage the data using an object-oriented approach.
Fabio Ferracchiati has written a comprehensive guide to the three main parts of the LINQ May 2006 CTP: managing in-memory data (LINQ to Objects), accessing relational databases (LINQ to ADO .NET), and manipulating XML documents (LINQ to XML). Each chapter offers many practical examples that you can try yourself with the downloadable source code. You'll quickly learn everything you want and need to know about LINQ by actually using LINQ.
The future of .NET data access is already here—and it's a very bright one!
Ch. 1 LINQ to Objects 1
A Simple VB LINQ to Objects Program 1
Extension Methods 3
Lambda Expressions 4
Object Initialization Expressions 5
Anonymous Types 6
Implicitly Typed Local Variables 7
Query Evaluation Time 8
Standard Query Operators 11
Restriction Operator 18
Projection Operators 20
Join Operators 24
Grouping Operator 27
Ordering Operators 31
Aggregate Operators 36
Partitioning Operators 43
Concatenation Operator 46
Element Operators 47
Generation Operators 53
Quantifier Operators 55
Equality Operator 57
Set Operators 58
Conversion Operators 60
Ch. 2 LINQ to ADO.NET 67
Database Interaction 68
DataContext: Advanced Features 80
Other LINQ to SQL Features 90
LINQ to SQL in Visual Studio 2005 108
A DLinq Designer Example 109
LINQ to DataSet 123
Ch. 3 LINQ to XML 127
Querying XML 127
Searching for Attribute Values 130
The Descendants and Ancestors Methods 131
Querying XML for Content Type 132
Querying an XML Document That Uses Schemas 133
The Elements Before This and Elements After This Methods 135
Miscellaneous Functionalities 136
Creating and Modifying XML Documents 139
Creating an XML Document from Scratch 140
Loading and Saving XML 145
Modifying XML 147
LINQ to XML and LINQ to SQL 153
Overview
Are you ready for the future of data access in .NET?
At the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2005, Microsoft previewed a new technology, Language-Integrated Query (LINQ). It captured a lot of attention because it addressed the fundamental issue of merging object-oriented applications with relational data. The LINQ project team demonstrated how to use LINQ to query a variety of data sources, such as a SQL Server database, an ...