Data Providers

Data providers are .NET objects that allow the .NET Framework to speak with data sources. Data sources are generally databases, such as SQL Server, Oracle, and Access, but also Microsoft Excel’s spreadsheets. The .NET Framework includes several built-in data providers exposed by the System.Data namespace. Table 22.1 summarizes built-in data providers.

Table 22.1 .NET Data Providers

These are the most common providers, but several companies provided their own, such as MySQL or PostgreSQL. Notice also how the OleDb provider is available to provide support for data sources such as Microsoft Access databases or Excel spreadsheets. In this book, for this chapter and to the ones dedicated to LINQ, Visual Basic topics utilizing the SQL Server provider are covered. There are obviously some differences when writing code for each provider; however, you also find several similarities in connecting to data sources and manipulating data. Such operations are discussed in next sections.