Summary

I sense that by now you are chomping at the bit to move on to the next chapter, but before you do I want to remind you of a few things.

First, LINQ is going to change the way .NET developers query data. Vendors will more than likely be lining up to add a "LINQ Compatible" sticker to their products, just like they currently do with XML.

Bear in mind that LINQ is not just a new library to be added to your project. It is a total approach to querying data that comprises several components depending on the data store being queried. At the present time, you can use LINQ to query the following data sources; in-memory data collections using LINQ to Objects, XML using LINQ to XML, DataSets using LINQ to DataSet, and SQL Server databases using LINQ to SQL.

Also, please remember what I said about LINQ not being just for queries. In a sample project I have been working on using LINQ, I have found LINQ very useful for not only querying data, but for getting data into the necessary format for presentation in a WinForm control.

Last but not least, I hope you didn't skip over the tips I provide in this chapter. If you don't understand some of them, that is no problem. They will make more sense as you progress through the book. Just. keep them in mind if you find yourself stalled.

No doubt that after seeing some of the LINQ examples and tips in this chapter, you may find yourself puzzled by some of the syntax that makes this all possible. If so, don't worry because in the next chapter, I cover the enhancements Microsoft has made to C# in version 3.0 that make all of this possible.