Start querying with LINQ

• Two fundamental building blocks of LINQ are the concepts of "elements" and "sequences"
  

Sequence

• 
  
  A sequence can be thought of as a list of items, with each item in the list being an element. A sequence is an instance of a class that implements the IEnumerable<T> interface.
  
  
  
  
  
  • Example for sequence
    
  
  
  
  int[] fibonacci = {0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5};
  


• sequence could be a local sequence of in-memory objects or a remote sequence
  


• In the case of remote data sources (for example SQL Server), these remote sequences also implement the IQueryable<T> interface    
  

 

• 
  
  Queries that run on local sequences are known as local queries or LINQ-to-objects queries
  
  
   


• 
  
  Return value of query can be sequence or scalar value
  
  
   
  
   

int[] fibonacci = { 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 }; // Scalar return value int numberOfElements = fibonacci.Count(); Console.WriteLine("Count: {0}", numberOfElements);   // Output sequence return value IEnumerable<int> distinctNumbers = fibonacci.Distinct(); Console.WriteLine("Elements in output sequence:");   foreach (var number in distinctNumbers) { Console.WriteLine(number); }

 

Deferred execution


This means that the query does not execute when it is created, but when it is used or enumerated.

 

int[] fibonacci = { 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 };


 

// Construct the query


IEnumerable<int> numbersGreaterThanTwoQuery = fibonacci.Where(x => x > 2);


 

// At this point the query has been created but not executed


 

// Change the first element of the input sequence


fibonacci[0] = 99;


 

// Cause the query to be executed (enumerated)


foreach (var number in numbersGreaterThanTwoQuery)


{


Console.WriteLine(number);


//query is executed when it's called


}


 

Result


99

3

5

 

Exceptional cases

• operators such as Count will cause the query to be executed immediately, and not deferred


• There are a number of conversion operators that also cause immediate query execution, such as ToList, ToArray, ToLookup, and ToDictionary.

 

Lambda expressions in query operators


fibonacci.Where(x => x > 2)


Here the lambda expression x => x > 2 will only return elements (ints in this case) that are greater than 2.

 

Local and interpreted queries


LINQ provides for two distinct architectures: local and interpreted.

Local queries operate on IEnumerable<T> sequences and are compiled into the resulting assembly at compile time. Local queries, as the name suggests, can be thought of as operating on sequences local to the machine on which the query is executing (for example, querying an in-memory list of objects).

Interpreted queries are interpreted at runtime and work on sequences that can come from a remote source such as an SQL Server database. Interpreted queries operate on IQueryable<T> sequences.

There are two styles of writing LINQ queries:

• 
  
  Fluent style (or fluent syntax)


• 
  
  Query expression style (or query syntax)

1. Fluent Style (extension methods)
   

Fluent syntax makes use of the query operator extension methods as defined in the static System.Linq.Enumerable class

Query operators can be used singularly, or chained together to create more complex queries

1. Query Expression
   

Query expressions offer a syntactical nicety on top of the fluent syntax.

SQL like querying

 

Example:

namespace ConsoleApp


{



class
Ingredient


{



public
string Name { get; set; }



public
int Calories { get; set; }


}


 


//Main Class



class
Program


{



static
void Main(string[] args)


{



Ingredient[] ingredients = {



new
Ingredient { Name = "Sugar", Calories = 500 },



new
Ingredient { Name = "Egg", Calories = 100 },



new
Ingredient { Name = "Milk", Calories = 150 },



new
Ingredient { Name = "Flour", Calories = 50 },



new
Ingredient { Name = "Butter", Calories = 200 }


};


 


#region Fluent style LINQ


 


IEnumerable<string> highCalorieIngredientNames =

ingredients.Where(x => x.Calories >= 150)

    .OrderBy(x => x.Name)


    .Select(x => x.Name);



//Ingredient object is transformed to a simple string. This transformation is called projection


 


//"x => x.Name" is called lambda expressions


 


foreach (var ingredientName in highCalorieIngredientNames) {



Console.WriteLine(ingredientName);


}


 

#endregion


 


#region Query expression style LINQ


 


IEnumerable<string> lowCalorieIngredientNames = from y in ingredients



where y.Calories <= 150



orderby y.Name



select y.Name;


 


foreach (var lowIngredient in lowCalorieIngredientNames) {



Console.WriteLine(lowIngredient);


}


 


#endregion


 


Console.ReadKey();


}


}


}

Range variables

 

• Additional from clauses
  


• The let clause
  

It is sometimes useful to store the result of a sub-expression in order to use it in subsequent clauses


 


IEnumerable<Ingredient> highCalDairyQuery =



from i in ingredients



let isDairy = i.Name == "Milk" || i.Name == "Butter"



where i.Calories >= 150 && isDairy



select i;


// isDairy keeps temporary value stored


 

 


//let can also be used to introduce a subsequence



string[] csvRecipes = { "milk,sugar,eggs",



"flour,BUTTER,eggs",



"vanilla,ChEEsE,oats" };


 


var dairyQuery = from csvRecipe in csvRecipes



let csvingredients = csvRecipe.Split(',')



from ingredient in csvingredients //multiple from clause



let uppercaseIngredient = ingredient.ToUpper()



where uppercaseIngredient == "MILK"


|| uppercaseIngredient == "BUTTER"


|| uppercaseIngredient == "CHEESE"



select uppercaseIngredient;


 


foreach (var dairyIngredient in dairyQuery) {



Console.WriteLine("{0} is dairy", dairyIngredient);


}


 

• The into keyword
  

To be declared that can store the result of a select clause (as well as group and join clauses)


IEnumerable<Ingredient> highCalDairyQuery =



from i in ingredients



select
new
// anonymous type


{


OriginalIngredient = i,


IsDairy = i.Name == "Milk" || i.Name == "Butter",


IsHighCalorie = i.Calories >= 150


}



into temp



where temp.IsDairy && temp.IsHighCalorie



// cannot write "select i;" as into hides the previous range variable i



select temp.OriginalIngredient;

• The join clause
  

The join clause takes two input sequences in which elements in either sequence do not necessarily have any direct relationship in the class domain model.

Common types of joins include:

 Inner joins.

 Group joins.

 Left outer joins.

Inner Join

//INNER JOIN



Recipe[] recipes = {



new
Recipe { Id = 1, Name = "Mashed Potato" },



new
Recipe { Id = 2, Name = "Crispy Duck" },



new
Recipe { Id = 3, Name = "Sachertorte" }};


 


Review[] reviews = {



new
Review { RecipeId = 1, ReviewText = "Tasty!" },



new
Review { RecipeId = 1, ReviewText = "Not nice :(" },



new
Review { RecipeId = 1, ReviewText = "Pretty good" },



new
Review { RecipeId = 2, ReviewText = "Too hard" },



new
Review { RecipeId = 2, ReviewText = "Loved it" }


};


 


var query = from recipe in recipes



join review in reviews



on recipe.Id equals review.RecipeId



select
new
// anonymous type


{


RecipeName = recipe.Name,


RecipeReview = review.ReviewText


};


 


foreach (var item in query) {



Console.WriteLine("{0} - '{1}'", item.RecipeName, item.RecipeReview);

}

Group join

//group join

var query = from recipe in recipes



join review in reviews



on recipe.Id equals review.RecipeId



into reviewGroup



select
new
// anonymous type


{


RecipeName = recipe.Name,


Reviews = reviewGroup // collection of related reviews


};


 


foreach (var item in query) {



Console.WriteLine("Reviews for {0}", item.RecipeName);


 


foreach (var review in item.Reviews) {



Console.WriteLine(" - {0}", review.ReviewText);


}

}

    


 




 




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