TechFunk cut and pasted this article verbatim into a blog post of 6/16/2008.

See the "CIO Magazine Posts Article on LINQ and TechFunk Copies It Verbatim" topic of LINQ and Entity Framework Posts for 6/16/2008+.

--rj

LINQ appears to be a great technology, and while this article does is not wrong on the surface, it says nothing about incorporating this technology into an existing application. If you have visions of ripping out your data logic and moving to LINQ because of its benefits, understand that you have to go through the work of replacing an existing, functional system with a new technology.

This is a nice article that illuminates one of the many benefits of .NET technology in that you can access any data source with the same set of skills using LINQ.

In response to Mikes post - I have to disagree. There isn't anything about LINQ that requires you to remove any other technology. Upgrading from .NET 2.0 to .NET 3.5 is a breeze and you can begin using LINQ side-by-side with existing technology right away.

LINQ is more than a database access technology; it is a way to access any data source, including objects.

Joe
http://www.csharp-station.com

So where is the best place to start learning this new technology? How do we get our feet wet on a test project?

Anonymous,

Here's an overview paper from Don Box and Anders Hejlsberg:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb308959.aspx

If you don't have Visual Studio 2008, you can download Visual C# Express, which is a free IDE:

http://www.microsoft.com/express/

If you need a database, you can also download SQL Server 2005 Express, which is also a free download from the link above.

Also, here's a series of blog posts by Scott Guthrie that form a tutorial for learning LINQ:

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/09/07/linq-to-sql-part-9-using-a-custom-linq-expression-with-the-lt-asp-linqdatasource-gt-control.aspx

And finally, Charlie Calvert's Community Blog is a goldmine of information on all that is LINQ (as well as much other useful information):

http://blogs.msdn.com/charlie/default.aspx

Joe
http://www.csharp-station.com/

Thanks, Joe!

Of course, we should also direct readers to John Mueller's book, which is coming out momentarily.--Esther

LINQ is definitely revolutionary. The reason I say so is because it enables you to work with different data-sources with one streamlined approach. This means that if you know LINQ you can read-write data from sources such as RDBMS, XML and just plain objects.

DeepakKapoor.Net

Excellent article

It is rarely disputed that Linq as delivered in .NET 3.5 is perhaps the single largest 'tactical/operational' win a development team can achieve given the constraints discussed below. Sure there are larger wins we leave on the table daily, and have for over a decade. But this is an easy win where OO is enhanced with Functional Language declarative syntax:

We all have suffered through poor adoption for initiatives reaching into 'fuzzy abstractions'. Rare is the team systemically speaking in 'design patterns' and truly succeeded in Agile via the far greater mandate for OO design skills, not code skills (that is just assumed). Even code reuse is almost a lost cause for many.

Here we have the one thing that works with few exceptions in a (for now) 'code-driven' not 'domain-driven' world. Developers know they need to master this, there is little ambiguity on the tactical aspects, and the bottom line of moving code to declarative over imperative is just too critical to ignore.

Those who cannot support this for legacy work, or other self-imposed (typically) constraints so be it. Your already behind.

There can be little argument why this cannot drive new development as doing otherwise is a drastic acceptance of further mediocrity in aggregate (of course your group is the exception), fear, uncertainty and doubt and another example of the tail wagging the dog in IT hampering its own ability to be of strategic value to the business.

I for one am embarrassed at our track record in this area. There are seriously not many technical barriers these days, only human (also much harder to overcome I admit but utterly illogical to our stakeholders far too often).

My company and I demand that software as an industry, especially in servicing corporate strategy be allowed to become 'domain-driven' and do what we know almost universally know how to do: become that strategic resource.

Kind Regards,
Damon Wilder Carr
domain.dot.net team

My advice - wait a year, and never ever adopt a 1st release from anyone. Set a reminder on your calendar and see if LINQ is hot stuff in a year or just another toy.

Everything about linq is nice but if a method contains LINQ query expression and during debug mode if you edit that query or any other non LINQ code within that method you can't compile and continue.
You have to restart the app recompile and only then it will let you continue.

edit and continue will not work for that method.

so i separate all LINQ queries to another method .

This is a very serious handicap.