Part 1 Getting started

1 Introducing LINQ: 1.1 What is LINQ?; 1.2 Why do we need LINQ?; 1.3 Design goals and origins of LINQ; 1.4 First steps with LINQ to Objects: Querying collections in memory; 1.5 First steps with LINQ to XML: Querying XML documents; 1.6 First steps with LINQ to SQL: Querying relational databases; 1.7 Summary
2 C# and VB.NET language enhancements: 2.1 Discovering the new language enhancements; 2.2 Implicitly typed local variables; 2.3 Object and collection initializers; 2.4 Lambda expressions; 2.5 Extension methods; 2.6 Anonymous types; 2.7 Summary
3 LINQ building blocks: 3.1 How LINQ extends .NET; 3.2 Introducing sequences; 3.3 Introducing query operators; 3.4 Introducing query expressions; 3.5 Introducing expression trees; 3.6 LINQ DLLs and namespaces; 3.7 Summary

Part 2 Querying objects in memory

4 Getting familiar with LINQ to Objects: 4.1 Introducing our running example; 4.2 Using LINQ with in-memory collections; 4.3 Using LINQ with ASP.NET and Windows Forms; 4.4 Focus on major standard query operators; 4.5 Creating views on an object graph in memory; 4.6 Summary
5 Beyond basic in-memory queries: 5.1 Common scenarios; 5.2 Design patterns; 5.3 Performance considerations; 5.4 Summary

6 Getting started with LINQ to SQL: 6.1 Jump into LINQ to SQL; 6.2 Reading data with LINQ to SQL; 6.3 Refining our queries; 6.4 Working with object trees; 6.5 When is my data loaded and why does it matter?; 6.6 Updating data; 6.7 Summary
7 Peeking under the covers of LINQ to SQL: 7.1 Mapping objects to relational data; 7.2 Translating query expressions to SQL; 7.3 The entity life cycle; 7.4 Summary
8 Advanced LINQ to SQL features: 8.1 Handling simultaneous changes; 8.2 Advanced database capabilities; 8.3 Improving the business tier; 8.4 A brief diversion into LINQ to Entities; 8.5 Summary

9 Introducing LINQ to XML: 9.1 What is an XML API?; 9.2 Why do we need another XML programming API?; 9.3 LINQ to XML design principles; 9.4 LINQ to XML class hierarchy; 9.5 Working with XML using LINQ; 9.6 Summary
10 Query and transform XML with LINQ to XML: 10.1 LINQ to XML axis methods; 10.2 Standard query operators; 10.3 Querying LINQ to XML objects with XPath; 10.4 Transforming XML; 10.5 Summary
11 Common LINQ to XML scenarios: 11.1 Building objects from XML; 11.2 Creating XML from object graphs; 11.3 Creating XML with data from a database; 11.4 Filtering and mixing data from a database with XML data; 11.5 Reading XML and updating a database; 11.6 Transforming text files into XML; 11.7 Summary

12 Extending LINQ: 12.1 Discovering LINQ’s extension mechanisms; 12.2 Creating custom query operators; 12.3 Custom implementations of the basic query operators; 12.4 Querying a web service: LINQ to Amazon; 12.5 IQueryable and IQueryProvider: LINQ to Amazon advanced edition; 12.6 Summary
13 LINQ in every layer: 13.1 Overview of the LinqBooks application; 13.2 LINQ to SQL and the data access layer; 13.3 Use of LINQ to XML; 13.4 Use of LINQ to DataSet; 13.5 Using LINQ to Objects; 13.6 Extensibility; 13.7 A look into the future; 13.8 Summary