LINQ

Direct queries with Language Integrated Query

• Detailed description of all LINQ operators
• How to develop your own LINQ operators
• LINQ to Objects
• LINQ to SQL
• LINQ to Entities
• LINQ to DataSets
• LINQ to XML

With the help of LINQ (Language Integrated Query), developers have been able to process diverse data using a standardised query language ever since .NET Framework 3.5 was issued. LINQ is a standard integrated into the new versions of languages C# and Visual Basic. An eligible data source for LINQ are, among others, SQL databases, XML documents, DataSets, and, in general, lists of arbitrary objects.

This book demonstrates what you have to know in order to use LINQ successfully. It addresses professionals as well as beginners with some experience in C# programming. The knowledge of the so-called operators, i.e., the LINQ functions, is essential for working with LINQ. Thorsten Kansy introduces all operators including their signatures and overloading, goes into exceptions, and shows how to use the operators with the help of code paradigms.

If you wish to enlarge the number of operators for your project, you will learn, step by step, how to develop LINQ operators yourself. Moreover, the author goes into the data sources mentioned above and demonstrates how to link data in Windows Forms, ASP.NET, and the Windows Presentation Foundation. The book finishes with a survey of the LINQ operators and their T-SQL equivalents.