# What is LINQ?

## Content



LINQ, or Language Integrated Query, is a set of features in .NET 3.5 used for writing structured type-safe queries over local object collections and remote data sources.

LINQ enables you to query any collection implementing the **IEnumerable** interface, including arrays, lists, XML documents, as well as remote data sources such as tables in SQL Server.

LINQ offers the following important benefits:

*   Compile-time type-checking
*   Language integration (including IntelliSense support)
*   Uniformity across different data sources
*   Flexible, powerful, and expressive queries

In order to use **LiveLinq** effectively, you must be reasonably proficient in LINQ. A deep coverage of LINQ is beyond the scope of this document, but there are several excellent resources available on the subject. We recommend the following:

*   "C# 3.0 in a nutshell”, by Joseph and Ben Albahari. O’Reilly, 2007.
*   “LINQ in Action”, by Fabrice Marguerie, Steve Eichert and Jim Wooley. Manning, 2008.
*   “Programming Microsoft LINQ Developer Reference”, by Paolo Pialorsi and Marco Russo. Microsoft Press, 2008.