Microsoft Silverlight Books

Not much on Linq

If you're a bigger developer and don't know how to write a stored procedure, create a table, bind a control etc, you'll love this book. If you have any experience in developing business applications and want to learn LINQ, don't buy this book. You can learn more about LINQ from MSDN than you can learn from this book!

Developer
13 May, 2010

Review of LINQ in Action

This is a delightful book that is written in an easy to read style and text font. It covers 3 aspects of applying LINQ, (1) embedded collections, LINQ to SQL and XML. Suitable for first time users, developers or those seeking knowledge of this new technology will all gain insight into applying LINQ.

Douglas L. Jones
16 March, 2010

A comprehensive and enjoyable Linq resource

I seem to have good luck in purchasing books that are well-written and enjoyable to read. Linq In Action is formatted and structured well, offers excellent coverage of all aspects of Linq, and has a thoroughly enjoyable writing style. The companion code (available on the book website) is very well-done and clearly and concisely demonstrates the concepts in the book.

The authors delivery, tone, and knowledge result in a book that is actually enjoyable to read. Don't be surprised if find yourself not wanting to put it down. Linq is a relatively new concept and is actually quite simple. The authors know this and make a deliberate effort to get you turned on to the appeal of a language construct that you will enjoy using for years to come.

One bit of advice. The "Linq to SQL" chapters. Linq to SQL may actually be deprecated in the near future in favor of what is now referred to as the "Entity Framework". However, even without the Linq to SQL part, this book remains a valuable introduction to using Linq, and the other areas (Linq to Objects and Linq to XML).


For more information on the Microsoft data access roadmap, refer to:

[...]



G. Askew
14 February, 2010

Very helpful

We gave this to our son who is a very knowledgeable programmer. He says it has been very helpful and that he is learning a lot from it.

J. Adams
06 February, 2010

Little VB code

The back of the book says "All code examples in both C# 3 and VB.NET 9" under "What's Inside". This is a blatent lie.
Very very little VB code. Very disapointing.

Dave V.
19 January, 2010

Junk. Very Disapponted in Mapping publications,

I read alot of Manning books, and was looking forward to reading this book. It said C# and VB. Very little VB. It said in action. Very little. You can see what section each writer wrote. For example, the section on Extending Linq began with brief definitions of each of the flavors, as if the section was written outside the context of the book. The examples used in this section could have been methods defined in the class definition. Hardly worth its value. The section on XML was weak. Very few methods were displayed. I had to go on the internet to get an understanding on how to add elements to an existing document. I returned my copy to the store the next day. The poorest Manning book I ever read.

John M. Lyons
21 November, 2009

Light on LINQ to SQL

This book has very good coverage on LINQ to Object and LINQ to XML, but is light on LINQ to SQL.

If you need to use LINQ to SQL at your job, go for Pro LINQ from Apress. Beware the 2nd edition of Pro LINQ is coming out pretty soon.

PS. I am not in any way associated with Apress or the author of Pro LINQ.

George Jiang
14 September, 2009

Incomplete Overview

I am a fan of the Manning "in Action" books, but this has been a serious disappointment. I am a reasonably experienced developer that needed to get up to speed quickly. I have had a number of issues that I needed to understand to get a Linq implementation up and running and I found nothing about any of them in this book. This book just scratches the surface and in the most verbose manner. There is virtually twice as much information in O'Reilly's C# in a Nutshell as there is in this book. If you want a general understanding of what Linq is about, this book might be useful. But if you need to use Linq in any meaningful way in an application, chose another book.

High Desert Girl
10 July, 2009

LINQ in Action rocks

I was pleased with overall quality of this book. By and large this is the most comprehensive LINQ book currently available on the market. The writing style is easy to follow and the material is presented in logical manner. I rate it four instead of five because it follows a trend very common to books written by multiple authors - uneven quality of writing. LINQ to Objects for example is pure please to read, but I wish LINQ to SQL was covered better. Overall this is a solid book and I'd recommed it to any working developer.

Software Architect
07 October, 2008

A required desktop reference

I think the expression is "don't cry over spilled milk...", well when my son spilled milk on this book I almost cried. Why would you cry over a book you ask? There are many reasons. Not only does the book go into LINQ in depth (I know there is a C# in Depth book) but the authors cover all of the parts of the .NET framework that were created and needed for LINQ to function. In addition, all of the samples provided are both in C# and VB.NET. These samples are not your basic "Hello World" samples but useful reusable code snippets that get the point of the book section across.

The book starts of with an introduction to LINQ and the different versions of LINQ to xxx, more than enough to wet your whistle. The authors then go into the prerequisites of the .NET framework required, generics, anonymous types and lambda expressions. This chapter was so good I read it twice. The third chapter discusses how LINQ is made up. After this, the authors go in depth in describing the different types of LINQ, including LINQ to SQL, LINQ to Objects and LINQ to Amazon with useful examples.

This book will be a reference book on my book shelf. I expect to refer to this book constantly.


Joseph Guadagno
29 September, 2008

Stutters onthe most important area

Most of the reviewers have given high marks for this book. No issue with that, as long as the first six chapters of this book are concerned. It gives the best intrduction on subjects such as lambda expression and various Linq syntaxes. But the most important chapters should have been those dealing with Linq in N-tier architecture - chapters 7 and 8. But those were written in such a confusing manner that, at the end of those two chapters, you are left wondering why you spent money and time on this book. It is a pitty that almost all internet articles, including those on MSDN, deal with Linq as if it is an add-on to Microsoft Access programming and show pages and pages of "drag-and-drop and voila it works great!!" approach. I don't think anyone could write a successfull n-tier Linq code with that approach. Although this book goes little further than the drag-and-drop gimmic, it could have avoided so much fluff and concentrated just on what is needed for a real world n-tier programming using Linq. But unfortunately I don't know whether there is any better book treating Linq as a serious enterprise development tool.

Book Worm
26 August, 2008

Great detail. Well organized and thorough.

This was one of the best technical books I've ever read. It was easy to follow and understand. The examples were very clear and the section on the new features of VB and C# were wonderful and needed in order to understand the rest of the book.

I was slightly disappointed that most of the examples in the book were printed in C# instead of VB. BUT, I downloaded all the example projects and utilities and those are excellent! ALL of the examples are available in C# and VB. They are correct and a great on-the-go blueprint for my routines.

It was also very nice that they talk about (in easy-to-understand terms) the performance implications of different implementations.

The cover is a bit dorky, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover!

A great buy for the novice LINQ programmer.


GW
08 August, 2008

Great Tutorial on LINQ

The book covers a lot of topics that emcompass LINQ including LINQ basics, but also LINQ to SQL, LINQ to XML. I like that it starts out with a discussion of the problem and doesn't dive directly into the solution. In addition, I think it teaches the technology without resorting to starting with database applications as the example. Anyone who has heard me talk about LINQ knows that I can't stand that LINQ to SQL is the wrong way to teach it to new people...they didn't fall into that trap.

In addition, I really like that there are lots of good examples and a great index. There was never an example I was looking for that the index didn't help me find. That's becoming rarer in books. I really liked their coverage of LINQ from both the consumer of LINQ and the provider of LINQ. Their discussion of the LINQ to Amazon provider provided quite a lot of good insight into how the inner workings of LINQ are put together.

My only hesitation at completely loving this book is that all the examples are either in C# or VB. This lends the book to feel a bit schizophrenic. I would have preferred a more bloated book where all the example in print were in both languages. This is especially true of LINQ because the language integration of LINQ is very dissimilar between the languages.

Overall, I would recommend the book to anyone trying to learn LINQ as a technology.


Shawn Wildermuth
08 August, 2008

An important book, on an important topic

LINQ in Action, at 600 pages provides a substantial introduction and in-depth discussion of LINQ, its history, its impact, and most important - its syntax and features. I found this book easy to navigate, given that many developers (I know I do) moved between LINQ to Objects, LINQ to XML and LINQ to SQL througout the working day. When you stumble over a particular query, I found it easy to find a relavent sample in the index.

If you haven't had an opportunity to move into the .NET 3.5 Framework world and use C# .0 or VB 0 syntax yet, then this book will arm you with the background necessary to move productively into the new 'Query Centric' programming paradigm - one free of complex 'for' loops and deeply nested 'if' statements (and free of embedded SQL string statements).

Although hefty in size, I recommend this book if you seriously want to move beyond the basics and really understand how to use LINQ.

Troy Magennis
29 June, 2008

Linq in Action

This book is best used with a companion book covering basic C# terms. I found that I had to refer to the internet for explanations of terms.

Explanations, not just definitions. That need slowed my reading to a crawl. though I have been using C# for the past year.


Harry Goldstein
28 June, 2008

Very, very nice and good book

This is a very nicely written book.
Clear explanations, concepts are introduced gradually and build on each other with no forward references, simple and to the point code samples, good and appropriate pace, and very easy to read and understand.

I was actually amazed by this book. I read a couple of books/month, and this book reminded me a lot of the quality of classic CS books, which is so hard to come by nowadays -- think "The unix programming environment", but more accessible.
This is in sharp contrast with most of the today books in the (programming/CS) field which tend to have a big ratio of page-count to information (lots of screenshots, or 101/intro-level intermixed content, lots of fluff). This is not a book that you can shrink without loosing quality.

Daniel
07 June, 2008

LINQ with no action

I am disappointed with this book - it did not meet my expectations. I found many examples and it is really hard to use them because the author hardly explains where all comes from and why I should go this way and not another one. It sometimes confuses why, where and for what purpose the author shows an example and whether it suits my case. It is hard to decide because there are almost no explanations about roots of examples and basic theory.
However, I am happy with the fact that more and more books about LINQ come up and I do hope to find a proper one for me. Unfortunately, for now, I have to move from one book to another one for finding a solution.


Avak Bastadjan
28 May, 2008

The only Linq book you will need

If you want to learn Linq, whether its data stored in a database, in XML files, DataSets or just in-memory objects this is the book for you.

I found it so easy to understand, and really comprehend. There are lots of examples, but not too many. After reading the first few chapters you become comfortable with the concept and syntax of the new language extensions.

The authors style had just the right combination of light humor and serious programming. He seems able to express complicated issues with the greatest of ease, and obviously has enoumous knowledge on the subject.

If that was not enough, there are forums avalable where you can raise queries and doubts and the author will do his best to accomodate you, again with a nice and easy flowing style.

The book is a 'must have' to any serious Linq programmer (or want-to-be Linq programmer!) and will certainly occupy a prominent place on my bookshelf.

Highly recommended!

Regards,
Martin.

Martin J. Hart
14 May, 2008

Highly Recommended

I read a lot of tech books and only write reviews on the ones I really think offer value. This is one of them. If you want to learn LINQ from some guys that know their stuff, this is the book for you. It's very readable with great code examples..VB coverage is much appreciated by me! I've also looked at some of the other LINQ books. This is the only one I took the time to read cover to cover. Very easy to read with great coverage of the topic. Highly recommended.

Mark Dunn, MCT, MCAD, MCDBA, MCSD.NET
Microsoft MVP, Visual Basic
Microsoft Regional Director
President, DUNN Training and Consulting, Inc.


Mark Dunn
14 May, 2008

A great book from start to finish

I've read every LINQ book that i"ve come across and on the whole, they are all really good. As a subject area, the coverage is amazingly well done. This book is a natural fit b/c in every important respect, it's excellent.

First off, it's easy to read. Learning the basic mechanics of LINQ isn't all that difficult. Learning advanced LINQ mechanics is still pretty straightforward. However understanding why certain approaches should be used over other ones, understanding potential pitfalls (getting something back you weren't expecting) and ensuring your code performs well after you get back more than a few records, well, that takes some effort. I think this book helps you accomplish each of those in a manner that's very clear and very straightforward. [As a stylistic note, I think really understanding Lamda expressions, which admittedly aren't a linq feature per se, is challenging at first. This book did not shy away from them and went at them head one. B/c learning them isn't a linear process (at least it wasn't for me or anyone i know), you often make no real progress, then have a moment of understanding that gets you to the next level. That type of learning is best facilitated by seeing several examples - seeing several ways to accomplish something and then reverse engineering the differences. The extensive number of examples really makes that process a lot simpler].

Another really strong point is the examples themselves. In the LINQ to XML coverage, there's an example of how to create a RSS feed from a collection with one linq query. It's beauty is its elegance and b/c most developers have given writing RSS a try, it's a great juxtaposition to show how powerful and useful LINQ can be. That example isn't alone though - there are several others that extend beyond the cliche'd Hello World samples that leave people wanting for more.

The coverage of each topic is superb as well. At no point did I finish a chapter with unanswered questions in mind. Often, authors will make an assertion "you should do it this way b/c otherwise you'll open up security vulnerabilities" or whatever without explaining what the downside is that they are talking about. I know it's a seemingly unimportant thing, but I found that they always explained the points they make, even the minor ones. It's a typical example of the attention to detail the authors put into this book.

Having co-authored several books, I know how hard it is to write a book with a unified writing style. The editing for this book is done in such a way though that it looks like one author wrote it. Yes, there are some differences in their individual writing styles, but it's all close enough that it really does feel as though one person wrote it. That is a huge plus and again, it's just one of those small things they do that shows a serious attention to detail.

So it's easy to read, they cover everything really well, they selected great examples and explain them well and they start out with general coverage and move onto very detailed coverage - making it ideal for both a LINQ newcommer or a seasoned vet.

It's a great book and IMHO, the authors are to be commended for putting it together. Although I've found all of the LINQ books I've come across to be very good - this one made an impression and it's excellent from start to finish.

William G. Ryan
11 May, 2008

Good and complete book

A good book, very complete and full of infos. All topics are well and deeply explained. I give only 4 stars for two main reasons
1. I don't like the writing style. It is too friendly, I prefer a formal and clean one.
2. Some explanation is 'obscure' and needs to be rewritten, for example the SelectWith extension method.
Anyway it really worths to have a copy on your desk.

Pagliei Carlo
07 April, 2008

Excellent Linq Book

I am a newbie both in visual basic and Linq, and I have to say that this book is really great. It provides a LOT of understandable explanations, that are so useful for who's not a guru already.

There are tons of examples, plus quite a lot online resources that can be extremely useful.

Great book, probably one of the best on LINQ subject, and it's definitely worth the price

Valerio A.
02 April, 2008

Clear and cogent instruction on a central technology

Linq in Action is a clear and deep presentation of a technology that, even in its first incarnation, is increasing the productivity of programmers, and setting an even higher standard for dynamic websites and programs. The authors, who were instrumental in the development of Linq, proceed in an intuitive path from the basics of the technology, all the way to very sophisticated ideas and examples. The authors also participate online to answer questions and add even more material for an even more through presentation. I recommend this book for any developer or aspiring developer.

Paolo

Margery Pignatelli
01 April, 2008

One of the best resources for LINQ available today

During my attempts to learn LINQ and implement it into my work, I've searched several sites looking for answers related to syntax, deferred execution, LINQ to XML, LINQ to SQL, and LINQ performance statistics. I spent hours going from one site or blog post to the next. This book covers all of these topic and more. If only I had this book sooner...

T. Angel
30 March, 2008

LINQ in Action makes LINQ seem smaller

When I first started reading about LINQ and playing with it I got a feeling LINQ is HUGE. That regular developer that doesn't have a lot of time to learn will need years to conquer the art of all that is LINQ.

But after reading LINQ in Action I realized this is not the case. The book systematically explains LINQ and since you probably already know something about LINQ fills the gaps. It's fast to red, has a nice flow. First it covers the basics, then explains about LINQ Objects, followed by LINQ to SQL and LINQ to XML and closes with a nice wrap-up. On books homepage you will find extra chapter dealing with LINQ to DataSet.

What I missed in the book is more about using LINQ in three-tiered designs. There are just a few statements about this in the book and few lines in sample code. What I would like to see is a chapter on how to use LINQ when there is WCF service in application design. I know it's a painful subject, but some guidelines would still be nice.

David Vidmar
28 March, 2008

LINQ Rocks!

When using SQL Server this will change if not get rid of a DAL as you know it!

David R. Kozikowski
27 March, 2008

A Decent Book

I've seen a few better computer books, and many worse. This is a pretty good presentation on Linq.

The Good:

- Nice balance of prose with many code snippets.

- Good pacing of the material, although I might like a bit more detail in some spots, less in others. Occasionally there's a little too much non-Linq content, such as explaining practices that are well known to most professional developers. There is also too much finishing one section by saying what's coming in the next section - unnecessary because it's obvious what's next - the next section's header is staring right at you. At times I found myself mentally editing the prose, and removing superfluous clauses and sentences unrelated to Linq. Fortunately the amount of this is not that annoying, but it could be tighter.

- Snippets often have short annotations physically next to the relevant lines of code (yay!), making it easy to see what's going on. When the explanation is lengthy, it follows the snippet, instead of sitting next to it, which is harder to understand. I'd like to see side-by-side, code with annotations throughout, which is understandably not easy to do.

- Code snippets are also in the downloadable projects - they mostly work. I couldn't get either Visual Studio or SqlMetal to recognize the stored procedures in the book's database, owing to some kind of protection/login problem using SqlExpress. No biggie, as I'm sure I can get these tools to recognize SPs in my own databases.

- Support website is good, I posted a comment and got a reply from the authors within a day or so.

- DoublePlusGood: Authors include many links to supporting articles, downloadable goodies, etc.

- I feel like I gained a good grasp of the material, and am well positioned to start doing serious work with it.

The Not-So-Good:

- While I saw dozens of lambda expressions, I still don't think I could explain to someone what they are, in a sentence or two. Maybe I missed it, but I expect a book to provide a lucid explanation here, especially on such a key concept, instead of having me infer what's going on by seeing examples.

- The section on Linq-To-Sql is probably the most turgid/dense of the whole book. The author obviously knows his stuff, but there were a few paragraphs in this section I reread numerous times, and still could not get what he was trying to say. The rest of the book is relatively lucid, which is no small thing, given the complexity of the subject.

At times I wondered what I missed by not buying the Apress alternative ("Pro Linq" by Rattz). It's a longer book, has more Amazon ratings, and I like the TOC. I also like the fact that it's written by one author, although "Linq In Action" doesn't suffer a whole lot by having had several people contribute to it. If I get into a jam with Linq, and can't get help from the usual sources, I may purchase Rattz as well.

Peter K. Evans
22 March, 2008

Best book I've read in a while

Though I love to read reviews, it's very rare that I actually contribute and write a review. However, I just had to say that this is an EXCELLENT book. I use C# every day and I would say I'm a competent programmer, but I've really been struggling to understand LINQ. I've read some articles online and I've been trying to work my way through another LINQ book, but it hasn't really been sinking in. Then I picked up this book at a local Barnes & Noble. After reading 10 pages in the store coffee shop, I knew I had to buy it, even though I was sure it would be cheaper to buy on Amazon.

It's the best tech book I've read in a while. I find that way too many IT books are way too verbose. I like the books that clearly and quickly explain a topic, maybe with an example, but only when needed. LINQ is a big complex topic, but this book really tackled the topics in a sensible order that made LINQ accessible:

1. Why do we need LINQ?
2. What's been added to C#/VB.NET to support LINQ?
3. What are the building blocks of LINQ?
4. Basic LINQ (LINQ to Objects).
5. LINQ to SQL.
6. LINQ to XML.

Highly recommended.

Ben Mills
18 March, 2008

The Best Linq Book Available

"LINQ in Action", published by Manning, is by far the best book available on Linq, both for those new to Linq and those already following it. The authors, Fabrice Marguerie, Steve Eichert, and Jim Wooley, have done a fabulous job of explaining Linq from the basics to the advanced. They even made it enjoyable to read, which makes it one of the best .Net books ever!

The authors' introductory chapter shows us right away that this book is different by presenting a perfect balance of the problem, the history, and the solution. Linq is a huge subject, but the authors are up to it, and they quickly whet the readers appetite for all of Linq -- Objects, Sql, and Xml. We then get a very thorough explanation of the new language enhancements that Linq relies on, but which the authors clearly show to have uses of their own. The chapter on Linq's building blocks, covering sequences, query operators, query expressions, and expression trees, was especially instructive to me, even though I've followed Linq from the alpha days, so again I'm sure this book has something for everyone. The book then covers Linq to Objects very thoroughly, including common scenarios and performance considerations that other books never consider.

The book then progresses to three chapters on Linq to Sql, which are of course my favorite since I'm really into O/R Mapping. The authors cover not just the basics to get beginners up to speed, but they also cover far more advanced content than I was expecting. For instance, they discuss not just the designer to setup mappings, but also the SqlMetal tool, and manual mappings using either attributes or xml. They also discuss the various concurrency options, the entity life cycle, inheritance, and more. The authors then give us three chapters on Linq to Xml, which again have something for everyone -- I especially like the chapter on common scenarios. The book finishes with a very thorough chapter on extending Linq, with a Linq to Amazon example, and a chapter that ties it all together with a real-world example that was gradually put together during the course of the entire book.

The authors also provide additional support and material online, including a bonus chapter on Linq to Datasets. There is also downloadable code in both C# and VB, although the book actually shows both languages in most cases, and always points out the differences when there are differences between them.

Disclaimer: I personally know Jim and have seen him present on Linq multiple times, Steve was a user of my WilsonORMapper, even contributing to it, and I've known Fabrice in the online world for quite some time too -- but I did very much enjoy and learn even more from their most excellent book on Linq.

Paul Wilson
13 March, 2008

An excellent in-depth tour through LINQ

The book is very well-written and very comprehensive. The authors made a great job at writing a book that can be read from cover to cover. The book begins with some reminders on LINQ history to understand where LINQ is coming from and why it is making life as a .NET developers more easier. Then come the language explanations, the part where you will see how C# and VB.NET have been tweaked to support LINQ syntax (btw, the book covers both C# and VB.NET LINQ and it is great to compare the different choices made). This part is really essential if you are considering using LINQ. Indeed, LINQ is coming from functional languages, something that most of us are not acquainted with, and it is disturbing at the beginning to understand things such as deferred execution. I found that a lot of energy has been put in pedagogy for readers that come with a classical OOP background.

Then comes the Part 2 on LINQ to object. This part is also vital because you will quickly realize that LINQ is about to definitely change the way your C# or VB.NET code looks like. Most of the algorithms we code rely intensively on collections and LINQ to object represents an incredibly powerful syntax to work with collections. Here also the authors worked really hard to explain properly the 'why/when/how to' things and to anticipate just in time the questions you might have.

Then comes part 3 and 4, on the 2 major LINQ flavors: LINQ to SQL and LINQ to XML. They represent a great opportunity to see some real-world use of what you've learnt in the 2 first parts. What I really liked here is that the authors anticipate the various scenarios (both common and advanced) you will face by using these 2 implementations of LINQ.

Then comes the great final, the part 5 that focus on how to extend LINQ to your own needs. LINQ is coming with several different extension points, from the single operator rewriting that will take you 2 minutes to write to the complete query framework that will take months to be written. This part explains and compares all these possibilities and can, alone, motivate you to buy the book if you plan to extend LINQ. LINQ extensibility is followed by another great chapter named 'LINQ in every layer' that put up together all knowledge presented until there to see how real-world applications are impacted by LINQ.

Something I would like to underline is that authors kept an objective eyes on LINQ. They warn you about the temptation to use LINQ for everything. What is awesome is that in a wide range of cases, LINQ represents both a new powerful syntax and also offers optimal performance. But for some other cases LINQ will execute much more slowly than a good old foreach style programming.

I highly recommend learning and using LINQ now because a lot of things is going to happen soon with LINQ, with things such as Parallel LINQ (PLINQ, to write queries that will execute on several threads at a time) , LINQ to Xsd (to write strongly typed XML queries), the ADO.NET Entities Framework (the Microsoft answer to O/R mapping) and more...

Patrick Smacchia
02 March, 2008

The best way to learn and use LINQ every day.

After a very good introduction about "what" and "why" LINQ, you will discover how and why C# 3.0 and VB 9.0 languages have been enhanced in Visual Studio 2008.

The rest is dedicated on all implementations provides by LINQ with Visual Studio 2008 (Notice the chapter about DataSet is available only on the web). But the "desert" is in chapter 12, where you discover how to design and build a new provider for LINQ: LINQ to Amazon !!!

Fabrice Marguerie, Steve Eichert and Jim Wooley have succeeded a excellent book that everybody must have when LINQ technologies are involved.

This book which is without doubt the best way to learn and use LINQ every day.

Bruno Boucard
20 February, 2008

One of the best .NET books ever written

I am an avid reader of .NET books so it's pretty hard to impress me. But the authors of this book have gone so far beyond expectations that I simply had to take note. First, this is one of the best researched books you'll ever see. Second, it's extremely well written and easy to read. Third, they've really dominated this complex subject! They have anticipated all your questions and you'll see the answers within the text. You definitely won't need to turn anywhere else for LINQ info.

This book is refreshing because it's all new and original. They didn't simply regurgitate the MSDN documentation, and their examples are clear and relevant. And the authors frequently participate in online forums and they offer great support for the book. This is not a "hit and run" orphan book!

After reading the excellent ASP.NET AJAX In Action title from the same publisher, I was doubtful if lightning could strike twice. But it did. Buy this book!

Eric W. Engler
12 February, 2008

A must read

This book is the fruit of a collaborative work. In a time of globalization, where ideas know no frontiers, this is a refreshing take on a hot topic like LINQ.

We have here three well known experts in their fields (name of the authors here) coming together to produce an excellent text book on LINQ.
The introduction is an appetizer for what comes next.

LINQ is not a language you will fall in love with at first sight. It demands that you get to know it but when you do you're hooked.

In this book we get a good summary outlining why we can't live without LINQ anymore. Also, a nice touch from the authors is that the code is written in both C# and VB.NET. It's a pity that this is not continued throughout the book. However, according to the writers, all the samples used in the book are available for download in both languages. So guys you are forgiven!

Because LINQ introduces new features, a full chapter is dedicated to C# 3.0 and VB.NET 9.0 enhancements. This chapter is for me the weakest part of the book. Even if LINQ in action is not intended for beginners, I would suggest to the readers to skip this section and come back to it later, because it will give intermediate developers the idea that LINK is only comprehendible by experts. It is too complicated too early in the book.

The rest of the book is cleverly divided into roughly three parts: LINQ for objects, LINQ for XML and LINQ for SQL. It is a very good idea indeed to have pushed the SQL part further down, after all, LINQ is much more than a mere language for relational databases. It is an advanced technology with many capabilities. For example, Object paradigm is at the heart of LINQ and this is well demonstrated throughout the book.
To conclude I would warmly recommend this book but for intermediate developers not for real beginners because some of the explanations introduced by the authors are not for the faint hearted!
I also give credit to the authors for creating from a blank canvas something as colorful as this book about LINQ. A hard challenge when you consider that nobody has really fully embraced the concept in a commercial application to date.

It's also a first book for Fabrice Marguerie, who I know well by his blog. Fabrice is a strong minded person, an expert in Object Relational Mapping, which gives you even more reason to purchase this book.


Paschal L
12 February, 2008

This book is a pure pleasure to read...

This book is a pure pleasure to read. The presentation of content is awesome. They breakdown code in a new refreshing way that I have not seen before. Maybe it is done in all the Action Books from Manning, but this is the first I have read. They use code annotations to show what the code is doing at all the key points, highlighting important concepts. The beginner will benefit greatly from this, as will the experienced developer getting into the new C# language features.

The book presents both VB.NET and C# code examples. This is definitely cool. It is something that has been lost with many publishers. I guess the publishers know they can possibly sell 2 of the same book if they make one for each language. Yeah, yeah, I know... you should be able to easily bounce back and forth between languages with no effort. Well since I don't allow VB.NET on any of my projects, I rarely get to see it since books no longer present both languages. So this is a refreshing change. I still have to deal with inherited projects, so it is nice to have a book that contains my language of choice, but makes available the VB.NET syntax incase I need it.

The book has an awesome introduction covering the history of LINQ, which also presents all the problems that LINQ solves and the design goals of linq.

The book covers ever new feature in the .NET 3.5 languages (C# and VB.NET) that were needed in order to implement LINQ. They include Implicitly typed local variables, Object initializers, Lambda expressions, Extension methods, and Anonymous types.

The book covers LINQ to XML, LINQ to SQL, and LINQ to Objects in great detail. They also offer a bonus chapter from the Manning Site for LINQ to Datasets.

One of my favorite sections was Performance Considerations. They do a great job covering tradeoffs.

The book winds down with a chapter on extending LINQ and how link fits into an n-tier architecture.

The downloadable code is very well organized and is very usable. The authors have a great support site.

I highly recommend any developer moving into .NET 3.5 add this book to their library. It will arm you with everything you need to produce production level code.

T. Anderson
10 February, 2008

Why this book?

Why should you get this book?
I started following the LINQ development while it was in beta stage and I was trying to find bits and pieces, here and there to make sense out of this technology. LINQ is something different than other technologies when it comes to learning it. It's like walking down a slope. If you don't follow the proper path, you can slip, in any moment. What do I mean by that? For MSFT to develop and build LINQ, they had to build and evolve a series of other technologies that will be used in LINQ. LINQ is developed on the top of a series of other technologies within .Net framework and the C# (VB also) language to be able to do what it does.
The sequence you learn these other technologies is as important as learning LINQ in the first place. By properly learning the foundation correctly, you will then see how sweet and powerful LINQ can and will be.

Now, why this book? Among all the materials and books I've read on this subject, this is the only book that truly follow this path. You follow the book, you learn LINQ. It's as simple as this!

I was involve with the "Early Access" program on this book and I saw how these three authors worked to make it better and better. They listened to readers and made it better. I wish other authors would take the time to write their book as well as this book. I give it Five stars!!!

B. Hayat
09 February, 2008

Great detailed information

This book is a fantastic resource on LINQ. Yeah sure I know two of the Authors (Steve and Fabrice) so I'm a little biased, but that just makes me happier that they did such a good job covering LINQ.

The thing I liked best is that the book doesn't talk down to the reader, has great depth, and somehow is still easy to read.

A. D. James
09 February, 2008