LINQ Quickly with Language Integrated Queries - Final Conclusions
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Overall, as I’m sure you have noticed by now, I was positively impressed by this book. It promised a quick introduction into the world of LINQ where no previous LINQ expertise is required, just a sound knowledge of XML, ADO, .NET, and C#. And that’s what it delivered.
Surely, the author has done his best to light up the mood with funny example codes, such as Icecream objects, Chocolate strings, Deserts database, and even fetching records from SQL tables that contain the ingredients: cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates. Closed-minded “nerds” might frown on this, but trust me, this should be appreciated.
Software development books, by their very nature, are almost always way too technical. This book is no exception, since its theme is related to programming (learning to code LINQ in C#). Due to this, sometimes it is hard to follow the author’s train of thought, because it might require finishing the next two paragraphs and then realizing you need to re-read the first one again in order to grasp their combined meaning.
In short, I recommend the book for those that need a quick introduction to LINQ, are planning to learn its syntax, want a comprehensive reference guide, and perhaps want to expand their horizons (LINQ with C# 3.0). I can promise you are going to learn from it.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a book that focuses predominantly on the in-depth application of LINQ in the real world, giving dozens of practical solutions and ready-to-run codes, then sorry, this isn’t for you. The truth is, despite its subtitle, the book isn’t that much of a “practical guide.” Rather, methinks it's a solid “reference book.”
Summing up, I think that the book definitely deserves 9 out of 10 on a scale from 1 to 10. Apart from the lack of practicality and that minor glitch I mentioned—LINQ was released as part of the .NET Framework version 3.5 and not 3.0—it is a pretty good book jam-packed with useful content and code samples on almost every page. Most importantly, its quality is high and the content is accurate.
Lastly, before we finish, please bear with me as I’d like to thank everyone over at PACKT Publishing for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I’ve had the good fortune to be in touch with Duane Moraes from their team and he has shown a great deal of professionalism and business expertise.
Next, obviously, I offer congratulations to the author, N. Satheesh Kumar, because he has written a book from which I have learned a torrent of new knowledge. In today’s fast-paced world we must always be willing to learn and educate ourselves if we want to remain up-to-date.
The book has earned a solid position on my bookshelf and not because I’m putting it away. On the contrary, it’s an amazing resource vault. I’ll leaf through it whenever a situation requires some sort of review or clarification.
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