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Review
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Reviewed: May, 2009 |
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Reviewer:
Chris Rinow |
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The intriguing part about the Dummy series published by Wiley is that these
books cover general basics about any given subject matter. They present the
material straight forward in an easy to read manner. Typically, if a reader
has time, one such devoted individual may accomplish this feat during a
weekend sitting as the common length of a Dummy text usually delivers
between 250 to 400 pages. The writing style contributes to this quick pace
by offering humor and joviality to the mix. Rich Tennant's comic
illustrations, a greatly appreciated staple in the Dummy series, bring a
common sense angle of the problem at hand into perspective which often
elicits a chuckle. Nonetheless, the expectation is to immediately grasp the
concept and build a knowledgeable foundation from which to work from. From
this point, the publishers at Wiley wisely require the Part of Tens section
in each of their Dummy books in which one can jump into more advanced topics
to continue the educational process. Overall, the authors, themselves,
should be commended for their efforts to transform technical goo into some
comprehensive pastry for the mind without the gratuitous fluff that other
bigger tomes exploit, ultimately, bumping shipping costs higher.
By now everyone expects these conventions from any "<Insert Subject> for
Dummies" book, and "LINQ for Dummies" written by John Paul Mueller is no
exception. Release of this book coincides right around the time LINQ started
to surface, so the author has firsthand and intimate understanding about
this topic. The first third of the book introduces this recently created
declarative language. Syntax, semantics, namespaces, terminology, and
nuisances between C# and Visual Basic are thoroughly explained. The author
takes the reader by the hand and walks through simple query constructions
for each keyword operator. He utilizes the debugger as an onsite teaching
assistant to explore the intricacies of LINQ behind the scenes.
The remaining bulk focuses on specific providers where the fun stuff begins
to take shape. In order to work with certain data sources, a LINQ provider
must be available to communicate with that particular resource. The four
major providers are LINQ to Object, LINQ to DataSet, LINQ to SQL, and LINQ
to XML. A close examination for each of these providers is covered here.
Apparently, there are already quite a few other custom providers out there
as well, available at CodePlex, such as SharePoint, Excel, CRM, JavaScript,
even Google, and so many more. The anticipation to have it all is similar to
the feeling any kid has in a candy store with a no limit American Express
credit card. To alleviate this urge, the book continues to explain these
other providers dealing with Office 2007, Active Directory, RDF, COM+, and a
brief appearance of MySql.
A really nice aspect about this read is there are absolutely no constraints
to LINQ. The author makes every attempt to point out unconventional and
conventional opportunities. He draws out the potential, flexibility, and
strength found in LINQ. As the evidence shows, LINQ is just incredibly
easier to work with data than ADO.NET, and this point surfaces throughout
the book. For example, multiple data sources can be combined with little
code. How neat is this little nugget for developers? Thinking outside the
box is also greatly encouraged. One of many shared suggestions is rigging
LINQ to perform searches on application logs. Well, this information can be
collected to refine the application to better suit users and organize the
help support team to respond faster in troubleshooting situations. Extra
value with good offerings like this is extremely beneficial. Furthermore,
the author recommends how to deal with security and performance concerns.
When additional explanation is required for a topic, the reader is assured
that either clarification will occur later in the book or ample external
resources are supplied. The author sincerely wants to spread the usefulness
of this language to expand your resources and knowledge. He clearly enjoys
this material and it shows.
As far as requests go for a future edition of this book, one comment is to
combine the chapters dealing with LINQ to SQL or, at the very least, place
them next to each other. As the order stands now, the disjointed placement
of the chapters disrupts flow. The pages devoted to step by step
instructions of sample databases into SQL Server are a bit too thorough.
Instead, it would be nice to see those pages dedicated to more interesting
topics such as creating a custom provider. With the ADO.NET Entity Data
Model gaining momentum, a walkthrough incorporating LINQ would be a great
bonus. Technology just grows too fast! Before one realizes it, technology
will be off to college soon.
As the name of the series indicates, this book is for newcomers to LINQ to
gain a grasp on this improvement in data interaction. Although as the
completion of this book viewing approaches, no one truly stays a "dummy" for
long. Except in my case, as someone who is not self-conscious about his IQ,
I am proud to have graduated to an educated dummy status…only to acknowledge
that I am a complete dummy at gardening. |
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