LINQ XML ... A Better Way To Query!
Thursday June 12, 2008
Part 8 of the Visual Basic Express 2008 Tutorial Has Been Rewritten
Part 8 of the Visual Basic Express 2008 Tutorial is titled, "Using XML". But I really should have included Microsoft's incredibly powerful new LINQ - Language INdependent Query - technology in that segment of the tutorial.
That oversight has now been corrected.
The example used for the tutorial can be made much simpler and more efficient using LINQ so it's worth checking out just to see the comparison between traditional DOM (Document Object Model) coding and the new LINQ.
Comments
I just saw that Microsoft appears to be essentially ending their exploration of LINQ to SQL. As someone who is just learning Visual Basic do you recommend that I try to pick up LINQ with regards to databases or should I just stick to learning SQL?
I don’t agree with your main point: “Microsoft appears to be essentially ending their exploration of LINQ to SQL.”
There was a lot of speculation late last year that LINQ to SQL was going to go away. It was really caused by some shifts in Microsoft’s internal organization and a few statements from Microsoft product managers.
The problem is that Microsoft has two fairly different products – Entity Framework and LINQ to SQL – with overlapping functionality. Microsoft needs to merge these two at some point in the future. So they put the both in the same development group to ensure coordination. The product manage of that group is quoted as saying, “we decided to take the Entity Framework forward with regards to the overall convergence effort and over time provide a single solution that can address the various asks” (customer requests for future development).
The conclusion is that the future merged product will look a lot more like Entity Framework than LINQ to SQL. But, keep in mind, we’re talking “future”. Microsoft is as committed to supporting LINQ to SQL in their current products as they ever were.
Another point is that you asked about studying “SQL” versus “LINQ to SQL”. SQL is a general name that means different things in different vendor’s products. LINQ to SQL is a specific product that uses the SQL syntax. So, studying LINQ to SQL is studying SQL. No need to make a choice.