Appendix. LINQ in Action

Fabrice Marguerie • Steve Eichert • Jim Wooley

“It’s like they threw a party for LINQ and everyone who’s anyone showed up.”

FROM THE FOREWORD BY Matt Warren Principal Architect, Microsoft

.NET applications are object-oriented, but the data is not. That’s the situation when you’re using a relational database, XML, and many other data stores, and for each you need a separate programming solution. Microsoft’s Language INtegrated Query, known as LINQ, is a set of .NET Framework and language extensions that offers a single, simple way to query data of any from directly from C# 3 and VB.NET 9. On top of that, your persistence code gets the same compile-time syntax checking, static typing and IntelliSense available to the rest of your code.

Written for C# and VB developers of all levels, LINQ in Action ramps up quickly from zero knowledge at first to a substantial depth at the end. In it, you’ll explore the key language features like lambda expressions, extension methods, and anonymous data types that make LINQ possible. Following a running example, the book walks you through core techniques to query objects, relational databases, and XML. You’ll master the Standard Query Operators along with the instantly-familiar SQl-like syntax of LINQ’s query expressions. You’ also learn to build custom LINQ solutions such as the book’s clever “LINQ to Amazon.”

What’s Inside

• Fully tested against the final version of .NET 3.5
• All code examples in both C# 3 and VB.NET 9
• LINQ to Objects, LINQ to SQL, LINQ to XML, and more
• How to do domain-specific LINQ customization

Fabrice Marguerie is a software architect and developer based in Paris, France. A C# MVP, Fabrice has worked with LINQ from the first prototypes. Steve Eichert is an architect with Algorithmics, Inc. based in Philadelphia, PA. Jim Wooley is a VB.NET MVP, INETA Membership Mentor for Georgia, and frequent speaker at user events.

“Great if you want to fully grok LINQ.”

Javier Lozano, lozanotek.com

“Very useful—both straight-forward and pragmatic.”

Bruno Boucard Microsoft France

“Teaches you to think in LINQ. Wonderfully complete.”

Jon Skeet, C# MVP and author of C# in Depth

“Covers LINQ, inside & out.”

Mohammad Azam University of Houston

“A great guide to all things LINQ!”

Tomas Restrepo, devdeo ltda