LINQ in Action

Chapter 12. Extending LINQ

This chapter covers:

• LINQ’s extension mechanisms
• Custom query operators
• The query expression pattern
• IQueryable and IQueryProvider
• LINQ to Amazon

When we introduced LINQ, we pointed out that one of its major features is its ability to query several kinds of data and data sources. In the chapters that followed, we focused on LINQ to Objects, LINQ to SQL, and LINQ to XML. In this chapter, we’ll analyze how these flavors of LINQ extend LINQ with support for data sources such as in-memory collections, XML, or relational databases. This will allow you to determine the techniques you can use to extend LINQ and use it with your own data sources. LINQ’s extensibility features will allow you to adapt it to particular ...