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 made its debut in Visual Studio 2008, and became a must–have skill for .NET developers. For more information about LINQ, you can check out www.linqdev.com.
Starting with code and ending with code and tailored for the VB language, Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in VB 2008 is a veritable treasury of LINQ examples that will save you hours, even days, of research time. Keeping you focused on the relevant LINQ principles, expert author Joseph Rattz, Jr., and VB specialist Dennis Hayes provide examples for complex models that you won’t find anywhere else.
In most books, you’ll find plenty of simple examples to demonstrate how to use a method, but authors rarely show how to use the more complex prototypes. Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in VB 2008 is different. Demonstrating the overwhelming majority of LINQ operators and protoypes, Joseph Rattz, Jr., and Dennis Hayes condense their extensive experience and expertise into a desk companion that is essential for any serious .NET professional.
Rather than obscure the relevant LINQ principles in code examples by focusing on a demonstration application you have no interest in writing, this book 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 VB 2008 returns your investment is in the hours, and sometimes days, spent by the authors 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, this book will attempt to entertain you on your journey through the wonderland of LINQ and VB 2008.
What you’ll learn
- How to leverage all the LINQ–relevant VB 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 coexist 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 this book is for
This book is written for the proficient VB developer, but you do not need to be up on all the latest VB features to understand the material.
Table of Contents
- Hello LINQ
- VB.NET 2008 Language Enhancements for LINQ
- LINQ to Objects Introduction
- Deferred Operators
- Nondeferred Operators
- LINQ to XML Introduction
- The LINQ to XML API
- LINQ to XML Operators
- Additional XML Capabilities
- LINQ to DataSet Operators
- Additional DataSet Capabilities
- LINQ to SQL Introduction
- LINQ to SQL Tips and Tools
- LINQ to SQL Database Operations
- LINQ to SQL Entity Classes
- The DataContext
- Concurrency Conflicts
- Additional SQL Capabilities
Joseph C. Rattz, Jr., unknowingly began his career in software development in 1990 when a friend asked him for assistance writing an ANSI text editor named ANSI Master for the Commodore Amiga. A hangman game (the Gallows) soon followed. From these compiled BASIC programs, he moved on to programming in C for more speed and power. Joe then developed applications that were sold to JumpDisk, an Amiga disk magazine, as well as Amiga World magazine. Due to developing in a small town on a fairly isolated platform, Joe learned all the wrong ways to write code. It was while trying to upgrade his poorly written applications that he gained respect for the importance of easily maintainable code. It was love at first sight when Joe spotted a source-level debugger in use for the first time. Two years later, Joe obtained his first software development opportunity at Policy Management Systems Corporation as an entry level programmer developing a client/server insurance application for OS/2 and Presentation Manager. Through the years, he added C++, Unix, Java, ASP, ASP.NET, C#, HTML, DHTML, and XML to his skill set, while developing applications for SCT, DocuCorp, IBM, and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, CheckFree, NCR, EDS, Delta Technology, Radiant Systems, and the Genuine Parts Company. Joe enjoys the creative aspects of user interface design, and he appreciates the discipline necessary for server-side development. But, given his druthers, his favorite development pastime is debugging code. Joe can be found working for the Genuine Parts Company the parent company of NAPA in the Automotive Parts Group Information Systems department, where he works on his baby, the storefront web site. This site for NAPA provides the stores a view into their accounts and data on a network of AS/400s.
