LINQ to DataSet Operators

While I haven't covered LINQ to SQL yet, let me mention at this time that to utilize LINQ to SQL for a given database, source code classes must be generated for that database and compiled, or a mapping file must be created. This means that performing LINQ queries with LINQ to SQL on a database unknown until runtime is not possible. Additionally, LINQ to SQL only works with Microsoft SQL Server. What is a developer to do?

The LINQ to DataSet operators allow a developer to perform LINQ queries on a DataSet, and since a DataSet can be obtained using normal ADO.NET SQL queries, LINQ to DataSet allows LINQ queries over any database that can be queried with ADO.NET. This provides a far more dynamic database-querying interface than LINQ to SQL.