ow many software tasks DON’T involve querying data? Answer: very few.

Developers work all the time with database data, XML data, .NET DataSets, collections, lists, and arrays?and each requires a different syntax and has different functionality. Developers who write T-SQL code often covet set-based language statements when they work against other types of data. Additionally, developers who are used to coding against strongly-typed custom collections wish they could write SQL database queries with IntelliSense. Language Integrated Query (LINQ), a set of extensions to the .NET Framework for the next version of Visual Studio (codename “Orcas”), brings the promise of integrated and uniform query capabilities that should increase productivity when developers work with different types of data. While LINQ is a large topic?worthy of books?this edition of The Baker’s Dozen provides a crash course so you can learn what’s under the LINQ hood.

What Exactly Is LINQ?
Odds are high that just about every .NET developer has at least heard of Language Integrated Query (LINQ) by now. But because this is an intro, crash-course-style article on LINQ, I’ll assume very little prior knowledge.

LINQ is a set of extensions to the .NET Framework to query different types of data using a common language. Orcas Beta 1 features the following LINQ capabilities within .NET:

• Querying Microsoft SQL Server data using a strongly-typed DataContext (LINQ to SQL)
• Querying in-memory .NET objects (LINQ to Objects)
• Querying .NET DataSets (LINQ to DataSets)
• Querying XML Data (LINQ to XML)

LINQ offers something for just about everyone. If you’re writing stored procedures and don’t need to change your approach, you may still find value in LINQ to DataSets or LINQ to Objects.

This article presents a number of code samples to demonstrate LINQ’s functionality. In addition, I’ll also cover new language enhancements in the Orcas Beta 1 release that work in conjunction with LINQ to make developers more productive with data-centric tasks than ever before. As of this writing, LINQ has gone from the Community Technology Preview (CTP) phase to Beta 1, so the odds are high that functionality will change. But the code samples should give you a good foundation for learning LINQ.

What’s on the Menu?
In creating the tips for this article, I wanted to provide basic exposure to as many areas of LINQ as possible. As I often do with intro articles and presentations, I try to build the types of examples that I previously sought when I learned a particular technology. So here are the 13 tips, in hopes of making you more aware of what’s under the LINQ hood, and LINQ’s uses:

• Installing Beta 1 and getting started
• First steps for using LINQ to SQL by creating a strongly-typed DataContext
• Writing LINQ to SQL queries
• Standard LINQ querying syntax and operators, such as sorting, string searching, date handling, and SELECT DISTINCT
• More querying syntax and operators, such as UNION and EXISTS, as well as SKIP/TAKE for paging and ANY/ALL condition handling
• Using an extension method to convert a LINQ result set to an ADO.NET DataTable
• Converting a LINQ result set to an IEnumerable or to a List
• LINQ to XML
• LINQ to DataSets
• Lambda Expressions
• LINQ to Objects
• Language features for C# 3.0
• Language features for VB 9.0

Additionally, you’ll find several valuable LINQ online references at the end of the article.

No ADO.NET Entity Framework?Yet
Microsoft’s data access strategy in .NET consists of two major components: one is LINQ, which this article covers. The other is the ADO.NET Entity Framework, a significant upgrade to ADO.NET that allows developers to create data models of the back-end database.

As I write this article (late April 2007), Microsoft has announced that the ADO.NET Entity Framework (which I’ll call Entity Framework throughout the remainder of this article) will not ship with Orcas Beta 1?but will ship a few months later. The Entity Framework promises a richer development experience for creating and mapping entity data models to relational databases. You can read more about the Entity Framework here.

Given that Microsoft will not release the Entity Framework until after Orcas Beta 1 ships, I’ve decided to focus on areas of LINQ that are scheduled to be part of this release. In a future article I’ll cover the Entity Framework and Microsoft’s data access strategy.

Tip 1: Getting Started
You can download Orcas Beta 1 from MSDN.

I recommend that you install Orcas Beta 1 on a test machine (or on a Virtual PC). I recommend against installing Orcas Beta 1 on a machine where you are doing any type of production work with Visual Studio 2005 (or any prior version of .NET, or any other development tool). Some developers are running both Orcas Beta 1 as well as Visual Studio 2005 on the same machine. While it can and does work, doing so increases the odds that you may need to reapply patches or service packs, or perform other maintenance tasks later when new beta versions/service packs become available.

Tip 2: Creating a DataContext for LINQ to SQL
The first example will use LINQ to SQL so that you can build a database query from Orcas Beta 1. I’ll show you how to write a very simple query against the AdventureWorks database in SQL Server 2005. In particular, the query will return a list of all Purchase Orders greater than $25,000, with a link into the Vendor table to show the vendor name.

Before you can do that, you need to address some housekeeping details. First, you need to provide the Orcas Beta 1 environment with some information so that you can write the database query in a strongly-typed fashion and take advantage of IntelliSense. In LINQ terms, you need to create a strongly-typed DataContext against the database. You have two options to do this: one involves the new utility SqlMetal that comes with the SDK for Orcas Beta 1, and the second is to use the new LINQ to SQL design tool.

SqlMetal automatically generates entity classes for all tables from a given database. You can use these entity classes in Orcas Beta 1 to create a DataContext for writing LINQ queries.

You can generate the entity classes for the AdventureWorks database by typing the following at the Command Prompt (you’ll need to specify the full path for the location of SqlMetal):

   SqlMetal.exe    /server:localhost    /database:AdventureWorks   /code:AdventureWorks.cs

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Figure 1. Using SqlMetal: For convenience, you can call sqlmetal.exe in the .NET project pre-build event command line.

Because the database will surely change during the development project, you can call SqlMetal every time you build your application in the Pre-Build Event Command Line project option (see Figure 1).

The entity class that SqlMetal generates may be very large, and unnecessary if you simply need to write a few queries. So the second option is to create your own LINQ to SQL data context for only those tables you need, as follows:

• Add a new item to the project.
• Select LINQ to SQL File in the list of Installed Templates.

Orcas Beta 1 will then display the Object-Relational Design area where you can drag the necessary tables from Server Explorer for the database (see Figure 2).

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Figure 2. Creating a LINQ to SQL DataContext: The figure shows some tables dragged to the Object-Relational Design area from Server Explorer.

The next tip covers the actual code for the query.

Tip 3: Writing LINQ to SQL Queries
Now that you’ve created the DataContext using SqlMetal, you can create your first test LINQ project. You’ll want to add the AdventureWorks.cs entity class file (that SqlMetal generated) to your project (by selecting “Add Existing Item” in Solution Explorer). You’ll also need to add a .NET reference to System.Data.Linq. Table 1 lists the core LINQ DLLs.

The query below retrieves all of the purchase orders with a subtotal greater than 25,000.

   using System;   using System.Data;   using System.Collections.Generic;   using System.Data.SqlClient;   using System.Drawing;   using System.Linq;   using System.Text;   SqlConnectionStringBuilder oStringBuilder = new     SqlConnectionStringBuilder();   oStringBuilder.UserID = "sa";   oStringBuilder.Password = "kevin";   oStringBuilder.InitialCatalog = "AdventureWorks";   oStringBuilder.DataSource = "localhost";      // Use the AdventureWorks data context    // generated from SQLMetal   AdventureWorks db = new AdventureWorks(      oStringBuilder.ConnectionString);      // Result is an anonymous type   var Orders =       from PO in db.Purchasing_PurchaseOrderHeader      join Vendor in db.Purchasing_Vendor       on PO.VendorID equals Vendor.VendorID      where PO.SubTotal > 25000      orderby PO.SubTotal      select       new { Vendor.Name, PO.PurchaseOrderID, PO.OrderDate,             PO.Freight, PO.SubTotal };

The query forms a SQL-like join between the Vendor and PurchaseOrderHeader tables in the AdventureWorks database using a basic WHERE clause. The query in Listing 1 performs a sum of Freight and Subtotal for each Vendor.

Note that the second query does not contain a JOIN statement. Because a database parent/child relationship exists between the Vendor and PurchaseOrderHeader tables, you can use parent-child syntax (Vendor.Purchasing_PurchaseOrderHeader) to reference child aggregations.

Of course, LINQ doesn’t limit you to just retrieving data. Here are two examples that insert and update data using LINQ.

   // Example 1: Code to retrieve PO Order ID 1,    // and update the freight by 10%   var PO1 = db.Purchasing_PurchaseOrderHeader.First(      p => p.PurchaseOrderID == 1);   PO1.Freight = PO1.Freight * 1.1M;   bool ErrFlag = false;   try    {       db.SubmitChanges();    }   catch (Exception)   {      ErrFlag = true;   }       // Example 2: Code to retrieve all orders with freight    // greater than $1,000, and give a 10% discount   var POFreight =       from POList in db.Purchasing_PurchaseOrderHeader      where POList.Freight > 1000      select POList;      // Iterate through the results and update each freight record   foreach (var PORec in POFreight)        PORec.Freight = PORec.Freight * .90M;   try   {      db.SubmitChanges();   }   catch (Exception)   {      ErrFlag = true;   }

You can use the result object (an anonymous type, which I’ll cover in more detail later) to set values, and then post back to the database context object using SubmitChanges.

Tip 4: Standard Querying Statements and Operators
Sometimes the best way to learn syntax is to see a number of different examples. Listing 2 demonstrates some fairly common database query requirements, such as sorting, string searching, date handling, and an equivalent of SELECT DISTINCT.

If you want to see the actual SQL code that LINQ to SQL generates, you can set a breakpoint over the anonymous type result and check the value after the statement executes.

Tip 5: More Querying Syntax and Operators
But wait, there’s more! Listing 3 contains more code examples for common LINQ to SQL queries, such as UNION operations and EXISTS. LINQ to SQL also contains some additional nice features, such as Skip and Take functions and ANY/ALL operators. You can use Skip and Take to retrieve a range of rows within a result set (helpful for paging result sets) and ANY/ALL operators to return a result if a condition is true for any/all rows in a set of child records (e.g. find the vendors with ANY orders greater than 50,000, or find the vendors where ALL orders are greater than 50,000).

Tip 6: Converting an Anonymous Type Result to a DataTable
Many people who have written blogs on LINQ have discussed the fact that the result set, a new anonymous type object in .NET, cannot be used directly outside the method that creates it. Fellow MVP Don Demsak has a great quote about anonymous types: “it is just a projection?think of it as a shadow in a box?you can’t take a shadow out of the box but you can take a picture of the shadow”.

To work effectively with anonymous types in an application, especially a distributed one, you’ll need the means to convert the anonymous type result set into something more usable. This tip shows you how to convert an anonymous type result to an ADO.NET DataTable, while the Tip 7 illustrates how to populate a custom List.

The early CTP versions of Orcas contained a function called ToDataTable() that allowed you to easily convert the result of a LINQ query to an ADO.NET DataTable. Unfortunately, Microsoft removed that function from the March 2007 CTP, as well as Orcas Beta 1. However, Listing 4 contains code for an extension method (ToADOTable) that can serve as a functional counterpart for ToDataTable. You can call it immediately after executing a query, as follows:

   // Take the anonymous type result "NewResult"   // and convert it to a DataTable   DataTable dtResults =       NewResult.ToADOTable( rec =>              new object[] {NewResult});

Tip 7: Converting Anonymous Types to IEnumerable or a List
Tip 6 just demonstrated how to direct the results of a LINQ query to an ADO.NET DataTable It seems that half the developers I meet use DataTables and DataSets, while the other half uses custom classes. Because the previous tip covered DataTables, I’ll now show how to convert the results of a LINQ query to a custom class.

Listing 1 showed how to query for a list of vendors and the freight and order subtotals from each vendor’s purchase orders. Suppose you want to pump those results into a collection of the following class:

   public class VendorResults   {      public VendorResults(string Name,       decimal TotFreight, decimal TotSubTot)      {         this.Name = Name;         this.TotFreight = TotFreight;         this.TotSubTot = TotSubTot;      }      public string Name { get; set; }      public decimal TotFreight { get; set; }      public decimal TotSubTot { get; set; }   }

(Note that the class properties above don’t contain any private fields. C# 3.0 provides a new capability called automatic properties that simplifies creating properties. Tip 12 covers automatic properties in more detail.)

Modify the query in Listing 1 so it returns an IEnumerable of type VendorResults. The method below returns an IEnumerable type:

   public IEnumerable GetVendOrders()   {      IEnumerable Orders =          from Vendor in db.Purchasing_Vendor         orderby Vendor.Name         select new VendorResults (            Vendor.Name,            Vendor.Purchasing_PurchaseOrderHeader.Sum(               o => o.Freight),            Vendor.Purchasing_PurchaseOrderHeader.Sum(               o => o.SubTotal));         return Orders;   }

I can then call the method as follows:

   IEnumerable oVendorResults =      (IEnumerable)this.GetVendOrders();

Finally, to pump the results into a List class, you simply need to iterate through the items in IEnumerable:

   List oListResults =       new List();   foreach (VendorResults oRec in oVendorResults)      oListResults.Add(oRec);

Tip 8: LINQ to XML
The code below shows some basic examples of creating and querying XML data. You can create XML file contents easily using the XElement and Xattribute objects, and create a queryable object using XDocument. This illustrates the point that those who don’t plan on using some aspects of LINQ (such as LINQ to SQL) can still use other LINQ functionality.

   XElement XmlAddr = new XElement("Addresses",   new XElement("AddressRec",   new XAttribute("EmployeeID",1),   new XElement("FirstName","Kevin"),   new XElement("LastName", "Goff"),   new XElement("Address","111 Main Street"),   new XElement("City","Philadephia"),   new XElement("State","PA"),   new XElement("Zip","11111")),   new XElement("AddressRec",   new XAttribute("EmployeeID",2),   new XElement("FirstName","John"),   new XElement("LastName", "Brown"),   new XElement("Address","22 4th Ave"),   new XElement("City","Baltimore"),   new XElement("State","MD"),   new XElement("Zip","22800")),   new XElement("AddressRec",   new XAttribute("EmployeeID",3),   new XElement("FirstName","Jason"),   new XElement("LastName", "Wilson"),   new XElement("Address","11 Baltimore Street"),   new XElement("City","Baltimore"),   new XElement("State","MD"),   new XElement("Zip","22678")));   XDocument oDoc = new XDocument(XmlAddr);   var xResults =       from oXml in oDoc.Descendants("AddressRec")      where (string)oXml.Element("State") == "MD"      orderby (string)oXml.Element("Zip")      select oXml;

Tip 9: LINQ to DataSets

While ADO.NET has always had the ability to filter the contents of a DataTable with the Select method, the biggest querying limitation of the DataTable was its inability to perform a JOIN (or any related set-based operation). You could simulate a JOIN by using Relation objects and Parent/Child syntax, but that capability paled in comparison to standard SQL JOIN operations. Fortunately, you can use the same LINQ syntax to query DataTables as databases.

For example, you can use LINQ to DataSets to query an enumeration of DataRows consisting of of either typed or untyped DataSets. You can also perform SELECT DISTINCT, UNION, JOIN, and GROUP operations.

Note two things in the code below. First, the code references the extension method AsEnumerable, from the System.Data.EntityClient namespace. This allows you to use LINQ syntax to query the DataTable. Second, the code also uses the Field syntax to convert each DataColumn (which .NET stores as an object) to the appropriate datatype.

   DataTable dtEmps = new DataTable();   dtEmps.Columns.Add("FirstName",typeof(String));   dtEmps.Columns.Add("LastName",typeof(String));   dtEmps.Columns.Add("Salary",typeof(Decimal));   dtEmps.Rows.Add("Kevin","Goff",90000);   dtEmps.Rows.Add("Steve","Goff",80000);   dtEmps.Rows.Add("Gwen","Goff",95000);   // Query for name = Kevin or Salary > 90Kvar    // Query =          from rowData in dtEmps.AsEnumerable()          where rowData.Field("FirstName") ==          "Kevin" || rowData.Field("Salary") > 90000         select rowData;

If you use strongly-typed DataSets (which I recommend over untyped DataSets), you can reference columns directly:

   var Query =       from rowData in dtEmps.AsEnumerable()       where rowData.FirstName == "Kevin"          || rowData.Salary > 90000   select rowData;

Finally, as I mentioned, you can apply JOIN and GROUP syntax to ADO.NET DataTables. Suppose you have two strongly-typed DataTables, one that stores a list of Employees (dtEmployees, storing EmpPK and Name), and a second that stores daily labor information (dtLabor, storing multiple rows by EmpPK for WorkDate and WorkHours). You want to join the two tables to produce a summary result of hours for each employee for the month of February 2007:

   var LaborSum =       from Hours in oData.dtLabor       where Hours.WorkDate.Year == 2007 &&         Hours.WorkDate.Month == 2       group Hours by Hours.EmpPK into g      select new {EmpPK=g.Key,          SumHours =          g.Sum(o => o.WorkHours)} into HourSum      orderby HourSum.SumHours descending      join Master in oData.dtEmployees on          HourSum.EmpPK equals Master.EmpPK      select new {Master.Name, HourSum.SumHours};

Tip 10: Lambda Expressions
If you’re still feeling left out, because you work primarily with data stored in custom collections, here’s something for you: You can use LINQ capabilities to query your collections.

In past articles on .NET Generics in Visual Studio 2005, I’ve shown how to sort and filter custom collections using anonymous methods inside the FindAll and Sort methods of the List class. Suppose you’ve created a simple Customer class, with properties for CustomerID and Name, LocationID, and AmountDue. The following two code snippets show how you’d filter an existing collection of customers for Locations 1 and 2, where the AmountDue is greater than 15K, and then perform a descending sort on AmountDue by location:

   // VS2005 syntax   List oFilteredCustomers =      oCustomerRecs.FindAll(      (         delegate(CustomerRec oRec)         {             return ((oRec.LocationID == 1                || oRec.LocationID == 2)               && oRec.AmountDue > 15000);         }      ));      // VS2005 syntax   oFilteredCustomers.Sort      (delegate(CustomerRec oRec1, CustomerRec oRec2)      {         return oRec1.LocationID == oRec2.LocationID ?            oRec2.AmountDue.CompareTo(oRec1.AmountDue) :            oRec1.LocationID.CompareTo(oRec2.LocationID);      });

In Orcas Beta 1, there’s good news, and then there’s great good news. First, the good news: the new lambda expression capability in Orcas Beta 1 allows you to rewrite the above snippets for better readability by eliminating the need to explicitly specify the delegate parameter. Think of lambda expressions as a simplified form of anonymous methods. In the code below, all you need to do is specify the parameter for FindAll (I’ve called it oRec, which .NET automatically knows is of type CustomerRec), and then use the “token set” symbol (=>) that .NET uses to separate the parameter from the actual expression):

   // Lambda expression, more concise   List oFilteredCustomers =      oCustomerRecs.FindAll(oRec =>      // Note that oRec is automatically      // of type "CustomerRec"      (oRec.LocationID == 1 ||      oRec.LocationID == 2)  &&      oRec.AmountDue > 15000);

In the sorting example (which receives two parameters), you need only separate the two comparison objects (oRec1, oRec2) by commas, include the token set symbol (=>), and then write the expression. Much simpler than anonymous methods! I’ll talk more about lambda expressions in Tip 12.

   // Lambda expression, more concise   oFilteredCustomers.Sort((oRec1, oRec2) =>      oRec1.LocationID == oRec2.LocationID ?      oRec2.AmountDue.CompareTo(oRec1.AmountDue) :      oRec1.LocationID.CompareTo(oRec2.LocationID));

So that’s the good news. Now for the great news?you can also apply LINQ query syntax to object collections (see the next tip).

Tip 11: LINQ to Objects
Continuing on the theme of Tip 10, you can use the same LINQ syntax from previous tips to query a collection. This emphasizes one of the key points of LINQ: using similar (not always identical, but similar) syntax to query all sorts of different objects:

   // Query a customer collection   var NewResult =      from oRecs in oCustomerRecs where         ((oRecs.LocationID==1 ||          oRecs.LocationID==2)         && oRecs.AmountDue > 15000)      orderby oRecs.LocationID ascending,         oRecs.AmountDue descending      select oRecs;   foreach (CustomerRec oRec in NewResult)      MessageBox.Show(oRec.LocationID.ToString() +      ", " + oRec.AmountDue.ToString());

Tip 12: Language Features for C# 3.0
The C# 3.0 language in Orcas Beta 1 contains several new features to increase developer productivity. Here’s a quick run-through of some new language capabilities.

Automatic properties allow you to create a property without having to declare a private field. For example, prior to C# 3.0, you’d normally write the following code to create properties for FirstName and LastName:

   public class Employee  // Prior to C# 3.0   {      private string _FirstName;      public string FirstName      {         get { return _FirstName; }         set { _FirstName = value; }      }       private string _LastName;      public string LastName      {         get { return _LastName; }         set { _LastName = value; }      }    } 

In C# 3.0 you can create the same class and properties, but with less code.

   public class Employee  // Now in C# 3.0   {      public string FirstName { get; set; }      public string LastName { get; set; }   } 

C# 3.0 contains object and collection initializers that let you set initial properties for the class or members of a list, without requiring a constructor.

   Employee oEmployee =       new Employee{FirstName = "Kevin",       LastName = "Goff"};   List oEmployees = new          List() {          new Employee{FirstName = "Kevin",             LastName = "Goff"},         new Employee{FirstName = "Steve",             LastName = "Goff"}}; 

Implicitly-typed variables let you declare a variable without explicitly setting a type. The new var keyword represents an anonymous type, a type inference, as follows:

   var Name = "Kevin S. Goff";   var Sum = 0;      // Implicitly-typed array   var IntArry = new [] {10,20,30,40};    foreach(var intValue in IntArry)      Sum += intvalue;

Next, C# 3.0 provides the capability of using extension methods. Extension methods can be a little difficult to understand initially. Think of the way extender classes work in .NET today: they (extender classes) allow you to append (extend) properties and capabilities to an existing class, as opposed to creating a subclass and recompiling. Extension methods let you add static methods to an existing .NET type?without even touching the original type. They are beneficial when it is difficult or not possible to add instance methods to an existing class.

Listing 4 (from Tip 6) showed an example of an extension method (ToADOTable) that you can use for any object that implements IEnumerable. The method becomes available in IntelliSense for any corresponding type. Extension methods are a powerful capability for extending .NET Framework functionality. Note the this IEnumerable varlist syntax in the first parameter; this essentially means that any object that resides in the current namespace and implements IEnumerable can use the method ToADOTable.

   public static DataTable ToADOTable(      this IEnumerable varlist,       CreateRowDelegate fn)

Finally, lambda expressions are a “kinder, gentler” form of anonymous methods. C# 2.0 introduced anonymous methods to allow developers to insert code blocks inline, in place of a delegate. While anonymous methods are powerful, their syntax tends to be a little complex (see the example back in Tip 9 for supplying an anonymous method for the List class Sort method).

Lambda expressions perform the same functionality with more concise code, by using the token set symbol (=>) to separate the parameter list from the expression, as opposed to specifying the delegate statement and parameter type. Behind the scenes, the compiler translates the lambda expression into delegate-based code. As you saw back in Tip 9, you can specify multiple parameters in the lambda expression simply by delimiting them with a comma (parm1, parm2 =>), and then using them accordingly in the expression itself.

   // VS2005 syntax   oCustomerRecs.FindAll(     (delegate(CustomerRec oRec)      {         return (oRec.LocationID == 1);      }));   // Lambda expression, more concise   oCustomerRecs.FindAll(       oRec => oRec.LocationID == 1 );

The code in the lambda expression can include C# 3.0 code as well as LINQ query expression code.

Tip 13: Language Features for VB 9.0
VB developers will be happy to hear that all of the C# 3.0 language features described in the preceding tip (automatic properties, object and collection initializers, implicitly-typed variables, extension methods, and lambda expressions) are also available with the version of VB 9 included with Orcas Beta 1. In addition, VB 9.0 also supports nullable types and relaxed delegates. The latter are helpful in instances where method signatures do not need to match, such as sender and argument declarations for a button click.

Resources, Resources, Resources
Do you ever feel like you’re on information overload, and yet you simultaneously worry that there are more resources out there of which you’re not aware? Every few weeks I take the time to add to and organize my list of blogs, sites, and articles. You won’t have a problem finding resources on LINQ and Orcas Beta 1. Many people and companies are already writing valuable blogs on LINQ and Orcas Beta 1.

The most important link is Microsoft’s home site for the LINQ project, but here are some others you may find useful:

• http://www.thedatafarm.com/blog/
• http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/
• http://codebetter.com/
• http://www.linqdev.com/PublicPortal/
• http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/

Additionally, Microsoft has a site with download links for a large number of samples and demo code:

• http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vbasic/bb330936.aspx
• http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=123&SiteID=1

Although I didn’t cover them in this article, there are two other LINQ-related projects worth mentioning. One is PLINQ, a special implementation of LINQ designed to run on multiple processors. The other is BLINQ, an ASP.NET project to generate data-driven Web sites. Just use Google to search for more on these topics.

You can download the source code for this article from my Web site. Check my blog for follow-up tips and notes on Baker’s Dozen articles?and maybe a few additional treats!