Summary

As is typical of my style, much of the information in this chapter may seem premature, since I have yet to actually discuss entity classes or the DataContext class. However, I just can't, in good conscience, allow you to continue without you knowing some of these tips and tools that are available for LINQ to SQL development. Refer to these tips once you have the foundation to more fully understand them.

Remember that there are two tools for modeling your entity classes. The first, SQLMetal, is a command-line tool better suited to generating entity classes for an entire database. The second tool, the Object Relational Designer, often referred to as the LINQ to SQL Designer, is a GUI drag-and-drop entity class modeling tool that runs inside Visual Studio. It is better suited for iterative and new development. But, as I pointed out, these two tools work well together. Your best path may be to start with SQLMetal to generate your entity classes for your entire database and maintain your entity classes with the Object Relational Designer.