Introducing DataSets

A DataSet is basically an in-memory database that allows working in a disconnected mode. Being disconnected means that first a connection is open, data is read from the data source and pushed to the DataSet, and finally the connection is closed and you will work against in-memory data stored by the DataSet. DataSets introduced a first attempt of typed programming against in-memory data, a concept that has been unleashed in the modern data access layers such as LINQ to SQL and ADO.NET Entity Framework. Now you get a quick recap on DataSets with Visual Basic before facing LINQ.