Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008
LINQ is the project name for a set of extensions to the .NET Framework that provide a generic approach to querying data from different data sources. LINQ will premier in Visual Studio 2008, and will become the next must–have skill for .NET developers.
Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 is all about code.
Literally, this book starts with code and ends with code. In most books, the author shows the simplest example demonstrating how to use a method, but they so rarely show how to use the more complex prototypes. Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 is different. Demonstrating the overwhelming majority of LINQ operators and protoypes, it is a veritable treasury of LINQ examples.
Rather than obscure the relevant LINQ principles in code examples by focusing on a demonstration application you have no interest in writing, Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 cuts right to the chase of each LINQ operator, method, or class. However, where complexity is necessary to truly demonstrate an issue, the examples are right there in the thick of it. For example, code samples demonstrating how to handle concurrency conflicts actually create concurrency conflicts so you can step through the code and see them unfold.
Most books tell you about the simple stuff, while few books warn you of the pitfalls. Where Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 returns your investment is in the hours, and sometimes days, spent by the author determining why something may not work as expected. Sometimes this results in an innocent looking paragraph that may take you a minute to read and understand, but took days to research and explain.
Face it, most technical books while informative, are dull. LINQ need not be dull. Written with a sense of humor, Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 will attempt to entertain you on your journey through the wonderland of LINQ and C# 2008.
What you’ll learn
- How to leverage all the new LINQ relevant C# 2008 language features including extension methods, lambda expressions, anonymous data types, and partial methods.
- How to use LINQ to Objects to query in–memory data collections such as arrays, ArrayLists, and Lists to retrieve the data you want.
- Why some queries are deferred, how a deferred query can bite you, and how you can make deferred queries work for you.
- How to use LINQ to XML to revolutionize your creation, manipulation, and searching of XML data.
- How to query DataSets with LINQ to DataSet so you can co–exist with legacy code and use LINQ to query databases other than SQL Server.
- How to query Databases with LINQ to SQL, write your own entity classes, and understand how to handle concurrency conflicts.
Who is this book for?
This book is written for the proficient C# developer, but you do not need to be up on all the latest C# features to understand the material. When you finish this book, you will be up on all the latest C# features.
Top 3 - Most helpful customer reviews
Best book on LINQ so far
LINQ is one of the coolest ideas to come out of MS in the past few years. Its tight integration with Visual Studio 2008 makes data access more intuitive and we can FINALLY drop the "SQL as strings" syntax in favor of something that can actually be validated at compile time instead of "blowing up" at run-time.
I've spent a fair amount of time researching LINQ and even played with it somewhat. This book would be great for those who at least know the basics of LINQ and what its purpose is. I honestly can't think of a topic about LINQ that was not addressed in some detail in this book. The writing was complete with lots of examples to illustrate the points. An earlier reviewer has said they "stopped at chapter 4" because of the lack of detailed query language syntax descriptions BUT I don't understand because there is an exhaustive definition of the language in chapter 2. I think their 1 star review was unfair and borderline malicious.
Until something comes along better, this would be my pick for the best LINQ book on the market.
B. Hodson14 December, 2007
LINQ: More than an ORM
When I first heard someone describe LINQ, I thought "Oh, another ORM... that doesn't sound very exciting".
Upon further research I discovered that LINQ is actually quite a bit more than just "another ORM", in fact, I would say it is one of the more interesting things from Microsoft lately.
The book Pro LINQ does a very good job of covering this new technology, and it does so in a way that you would expect for a "Professional" level book.
For example, I found it immediately appealing that Chapter 1 starts with a code example before ever getting to any regular text. The rest of the book follows suit. There are plenty of explanations, but sometimes seeing the code & result provides the clearest view.
The author does a good job of explaining the technology in detail, why it is useful, and very practical tips on how to make the most of it. The book covers using LINQ to query Objects, XML, DataSets and finally SQL.
I have used the book as an introduction to the topic, and for that it has done an excellent job. It appears that the book is comprehensive enough to also serve as a working reference book, but I have not personally had the chance to use it as such yet.
J. Pease07 January, 2008
Code, Code, and then More Code... Excellent
This book claims to be about code, code, and then more code. I completely agree with the author's claim, it is code from front to back.
The book covers every feature of Linq in great detail, but one of my favorite parts of the book is chapter on the C# 3.0 Language features and other parts of the book that show how to take advantage of the Linq language features in everyday application code.
The author goes into great detail in every part of the of the book. The author also has a great companion site that is being updated with the latest new features coming out, like LINQ to XSD.
The accompanying code is very usable and well organized.
The only thing lacking would not be a legitimate complaint, since the authors claim code level detail and not architectural level guidance, but I will mention it anyway. I would have like to have seen more guidance on architecture and how Linq fits into the big picture. That is not covered, but like I said, they didn't claim to, so I can't ding them. The point of the comment.... 2nd edition ...hint, hint.....
If you want to get into the guts of Linq, this book is definitely for you. I highly recommend it for every .NET 3.5 programmer.
T. Anderson01 January, 2008