With the combined launch of Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008, Microsoft is introducing five implementations of .NET Language Integrated Query (
LINQ).
Of these five implementations, two specifically target access to relational databases:
LINQ to SQL and
LINQ to Entities. This white paper introduces these two technologies and the scenarios in which each can best be used.
Microsoft Language Integrated Query (
LINQ) offers developers a new way to query data using strongly-typed queries and strongly-typed results, common across a number of disparate data types including relational databases, .NET objects, and XML. By using strongly-typed queries and results,
LINQ improves developer productivity with the benefits of IntelliSense and compile-time error checking.
LINQ to SQL, released with the Visual Studio 2008, is designed to provide strongly-typed
LINQ access for rapidly developed applications across the Microsoft SQL Server family of databases.
LINQ to Entities, to be released in an update to Visual Studio 2008 in the first half of 2008, is designed to provide strongly-typed
LINQ access for applications requiring a more flexible Object Relational mapping, across Microsoft SQL Server and third-party databases.
linq