Dig into LINQ -- and transform the way you work with data.

With LINQ, you can query data from a variety of sources -- including databases, objects, and XML files -- directly from Microsoft Visual Basic® or C#. Guided by data-access experts who've worked in depth with LINQ and the Microsoft development teams, you'll learn how .NET Framework 4 implements LINQ, and how to exploit it. Clear examples show you how to deliver your own data-access solutions faster and with leaner code.

Discover how to:

* Use LINQ to query databases, object collections, arrays, XML, Microsoft Excel® files, and other sources
* Apply LINQ best practices to build data-enabled .NET applications and services
* Manipulate data in a relational database with ADO.NET Entity Framework or LINQ to SQL
* Read, write, and manage XML content more efficiently with LINQ to XML
* Extend LINQ to support additional data sources by creating custom operators and providers
* Examine other implementations, such as LINQ to SharePoint®
* Use LINQ within the data, business, and service layers of a distributed application
* Get code samples on the Web