by Administrator
9. August 2009 01:01
LINQ to SQL isn’t Microsoft’s final word in the ORM (object-relational mapping) space. In fact, another database-
focused LINQ extension, known as LINQ to Entities, is currently under development. LINQ to Entities provides
features that range far beyond to LINQ to SQL, with a trade-off of increased complexity. First, LINQ to Entities uses
the ADO.NET provider model, which means it supports any relational database engine that has a suitable provider
factory. Second, LINQ to Entities supports much more complex mapping between relational data and classes. Where
LINQ to SQL assumes you want to work with classes that are based on the tables in your database (and closely follow
its structure), LINQ to Entities allows you to bridge the gap between relational data and your conceptual data model.
In other words, it allows you to pull the information out of your database and place it in more sophisticated business
objects with built-in smarts.
For more information about LINQ to Entities and other LINQ developments,