MSDN Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 14)

tion for software students today. As Jeff points out, you can study the theory of Turing machines or you can learn where to click in Visual Studio , or anything in between. So what’s the best approach if you plan to build software? I’m not going to tell you. You are going to have to read ® The blog is popular—more than 75,000 people subscribe to its RSS feed—so there are tons of comments. Plus Jeff offers many links to other prominent bloggers so you really do get a good sampling of opinions out there. The only downside is the lack of tools for exploring this wealth of content. There is a search box but no breakdown of posts by category. www.CodingHorror.com The Bookshelf One of the most important innovations in the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 is LINQ. In short, LINQ enables developers to write ® that closely mirrors T-SQL’s syntax, yet can be used to directly query any supported data source, including enumerable collections, XML documents, and SQL Server databases. For tension methods, automatic properties, and so forth. The bulk of the book is divided into four sections covering LINQ to Objects, LINQ to XML, LINQ to DataSets, and LINQ to SQL. Each section offers a thorough examination of the LINQ syntax and the various classes and methods that enable LINQ to query these different data stores. The LINQ to Objects section serves as a technical reference to the standard query operators. These operators are enumerated and are also accompanied by a short description and programming example. The subsequent sections, however, offer a richer discussion of LINQ, including helpful tips, common pitfalls, and more involved real-world examples. The last section, LINQ to SQL, is probably the most interesting and useful chapter for the majority of developers. Not surprisingly, one-third of the volume is devoted to LINQ to SQL and includes stepby-step instructions for using the Object Relational Designer and the SQLMetal. exe command-line tool to create the underlying SQL entity classes. The author also presents examples for using these class to query, update, insert, and delete data. What’s more, there are also chapters that address more complex database issues, such as concurrency control and transactions. Price: $44.99. www.apress.com int[] numbers = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 }; var evens = from p in numbers where p % 2 == 0 select p; foreach (var e in evens) Console.WriteLine(e); Due to the new language syntax and the breadth of LINQ’s features and complexity, I have preferred learning about LINQ through books rather than by taking the time to hunt and peck for online book I picked up was Pro LINQ in C# 2008 This book starts with a quick and intriguing introduction to LINQ, illustrating how it can be used to query collections, This is followed by a brief explanation of the new language features that made LINQ possible: lambda expressions, anonymous types, object initializers, ex- Send your questions and comments for Scott to toolsmm@microsoft.com. Scott Mitchell, author of numerous books and founder of 4GuysFromRolla.com, is an MVP who has been working with Microsoft Web technologies since 1998. Scott is an independent consultant, trainer, and writer. You can reach him via e-mail at Mitchell@4guysfromrolla.com or via his blog at ScottOnWriting.NET. All prices were confirmed at press time and are subject to change. The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Microsoft. 14 msdnmagazine Toolbox http://www.CodingHorror.com http://www.apress.com http://ScottOnWriting.NET http://www.cete.com http://www.cete.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of MSDN Magazine - April 2008

MSDN Magazine - April 2008 Contents Toolbox CLR Inside Out Basic Instincts Cutting Edge Foundations Test Run Service Station Windows with C++ Going Places { End Bracket }

MSDN Magazine - April 2008

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