"Andy B" <a_*****@sbcglobal.netwrote in message
news:%2****************@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
[please don't top-post]
>>Thanks for your input. I was thinking that "biting the bullet" and
learning it will (1) keep me on the cutting edge technically and (2)
take advantage of the new benefits. Thanks again...
Learning LINQ (just like learning any new technology) will indeed keep
you up to date, but it's really important not to let technology drive the
solution... Just because a piece of technology is new and exciting
doesn't mean that it's always the appropriate thing to use in every
situation...
What kind of projects is LINQ good for then? and What kind of projects is
it not good for... can you give some examples of each?
LINQ is a set of extensions to the .NET Framework which encompass
language-integrated query, set, and transform operations. It extends .NET
languages with native language syntax for queries and provides class
libraries to take advantage of these capabilities.
Put simplistically, LINQ allows .NET collection objects to be queried with
syntax which resembles T-SQL. If your project has a requirement to query
collection objects, and you would like to do that with syntax which
resembles T-SQL, the LINQ will be be perfect for your project. If your
project has no need to do this, then LINQ will be of no use to you.
Take AJAX as an example. AJAX is great for allowing parts of web pages to be
updated from the server without needing to refresh the entire page -
callbacks instead of postbacks. However, if you have no need to refresh
parts of web pages without needing to refresh the entire page, and you're
perfectly happy with good ol' postbacks, then AJAX is of no use to you. So
don't use it - you don't have to if you don't want to or need to...
Similarly, the ASP.NET ValidationControls. What are they good for? They are
good for projects which need validation. Projects which don't need
validation have no use for the ValidationControls. Alternatively, some
developers (like me) have evaluated the ValidationControls and find them to
be too restrictive so we don't use them.
--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net