LINQ

LINQ stands for Language Integrated Query.

Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) is an innovation introduced in Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework version 3.5 that bridges the gap between the world of objects and the world of data.

You can use LINQ queries in new projects, or alongside non-LINQ queries in existing projects. The only requirement is that the project target .NET Framework 3.5 or later.

This is a Microsoft programming model and methodology that offers developers a way to manipulate data using a succinct yet expressive syntax. It does so by instilling Microsoft .NET-based programming languages with the ability to make formal queries

In Visual Studio you can write LINQ queries in Visual Basic or C# with SQL Server databases, XML documents, ADO.NET Datasets, and any collection of objects that supports IEnumerable or the generic IEnumerable<T> interface. LINQ support for the ADO.NET Entity Framework is also planned, and LINQ providers are being written by third parties for many Web services and other database implementations.