Making Sense of it All: Heterogeneous Data Access on the .NET Framework 3.5

dotNetConnections is delighted to announce that we have not one, but two BoF's at this years TechEd, North America conferences TechEd Developers & TechEd IT Professionals. Our topic this year, 'Making Sence of it All: Heterogeneous Data Access on the .NET Framework 3.5' should provide an broad basis so we can deal with many perspectives on how best to deal with data access on the .NET Framework. For one thing, the plethora data access options and data models that now exist should sound as warning shot for all: each data access option cannot possibly suit every need, so if you've questions and opinions on what option suits your development needs, it will be the place to be. BoF co-ordinates as follows:

• Wednesday, June 4th @ 19h45 to 20h45
• Wednesday, June 11th @18h30 to 19h30

Send email here or comment below if you're planning on attending, or have topics you'd like to cover...

LINQ links for 4/7/2008

Julia Lerman, of the Data Farm has posted a series of excellent tutorials that are well worth a look all in her on-going series of '101 Tutorials'. Check them out here.

LINQ links for 3/25/2008

By Tech Ed 2008, it will be almost two years since this posting appeared on LINQ in Action blog, so it wins today's LINQ links. It's interesting to take another look at some of the projected values to developers and architects back in mid 2006...

http://linqinaction.net/blogs/main/archive/2006/07/28/why-linq-will-succeed.aspx

1. LINQ syntax beats SQL syntax. SQL is flawed in that queries become exponentially difficult to write as their complexity grows. LINQ scales much better in this regard. Once you get used to it, it's hard to go back.
2. Database queries are easily composable. You can conditionally add an ORDER BY or WHERE predicate without discovering at run-time that a certain string combination generates a syntax error.
3. More bugs are picked up at compile-time.
4. Parameterization is automatic and type-safe.
5. LINQ queries can directly populate an object hierarchy.
6. LINQ to SQL provides a model for provider independence that might really work.
7. LINQ significantly cuts plumbing code and clutter. Without sweeping stuff under the carpet, like Workflow or Datasets. This is a credit to the design team.
8. C# hasn't suffered in the process (in fact, it's gained).

Out of 8 projections, dotNET Connections would give this forecast a 5/8. Not bad considering how inaccurate these predictions tend to be. Before dotNETConnections publishes what we value-adds we think won out, lets hear your thoughts. Comment below!

Vote for our BoFs @ TechEd 2008!

Vote for our BoF at Microsoft Tech Ed Developers and IT Professionals. We'll be attending both conferences and with your votes, we will be able to run a BoF at both events...

Vote here for Tech Ed Developers and here for Tech Ed IT Professionals ...

Check out our BoF submission below...

Making Sense of All: Heterogeneous Data Access on the .NET Framework 3.5

In this BoF, we’ll peal back the layers on data access from the .NET platform. We’ll look at the common problems facing today’s applications with a particular emphasis on applications who in a multi-faceted, heterogeneous application environment. With all the options now available, available including the Data Access Application Blocks, LINQ, Entity Framework and vanilla ADO.NET which is the one for you? Come armed with your questions, ideas and burning issues and we can promise a lively discussion!

DataDirect acquires Xcalia

dotNet Connections is delighted to announce that Xcalia has joined DataDirect Technologies family, significantly broadening our already broad data access offerings. More details here...

• http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080318005082&newsLang=fr

• http://www.datadirect.com/xcalia/index.ssp

• http://www.xcalia.com/news/PR_2008-03-18_Xcalia-DataDirect-Acquisition.jsp

DAAB Links for 3/17/2008

Scott Densmore posted on how to get Enterprise Libraries installed and functional with Visual Studio 2008. For those you already using the DataDirect Data Access Application Blocks this gives you all the tools, plus the continued benefits that I've blogged about before in the latest Visual Studio IDE.



http://blogs.msdn.com/scottdensmore/archive/2008/03/13/how-to-get-enterprise-library-3-1-working-in-vs-2008.aspx

LINQ posing challenges for Java futures?

dotNETConnections was quoted today's SD Times on the challenges ahead for Java as LINQ and the new programming paradigms gathers pace and momentum in the .NET space. Some interesting reactions from JavaLobby offers a very representative perspective that is generating an important discussion in the Java space.

Check back here for more references and a collection of key comments in this posting...