Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: One of the best resources for LINQ available today
Comment: During my attempts to learn LINQ and implement it into my work, I've searched several sites looking for answers related to syntax, deferred execution, LINQ to XML, LINQ to SQL, and LINQ performance statistics. I spent hours going from one site or blog post to the next. This book covers all of these topic and more. If only I had this book sooner...
Customer Rating:
Summary: LINQ in Action makes LINQ seem smaller
Comment: When I first started reading about LINQ and playing with it I got a feeling LINQ is HUGE. That regular developer that doesn't have a lot of time to learn will need years to conquer the art of all that is LINQ.
But after reading LINQ in Action I realized this is not the case. The book systematically explains LINQ and since you probably already know something about LINQ fills the gaps. It's fast to red, has a nice flow. First it covers the basics, then explains about LINQ Objects, followed by LINQ to SQL and LINQ to XML and closes with a nice wrap-up. On books homepage you will find extra chapter dealing with LINQ to DataSet.
What I missed in the book is more about using LINQ in three-tiered designs. There are just a few statements about this in the book and few lines in sample code. What I would like to see is a chapter on how to use LINQ when there is WCF service in application design. I know it's a painful subject, but some guidelines would still be nice.
Customer Rating:
Summary: LINQ Rocks!
Comment: When using SQL Server this will change if not get rid of a DAL as you know it!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Decent Book
Comment: I've seen a few better computer books, and many worse. This is a pretty good presentation on Linq.
The Good:
- Nice balance of prose with many code snippets.
- Good pacing of the material, although I might like a bit more detail in some spots, less in others. Occasionally there's a little too much non-Linq content, such as explaining practices that are well known to most professional developers. There is also too much finishing one section by saying what's coming in the next section - unnecessary because it's obvious what's next - the next section's header is staring right at you. At times I found myself mentally editing the prose, and removing superfluous clauses and sentences unrelated to Linq. Fortunately the amount of this is not that annoying, but it could be tighter.
- Snippets often have short annotations physically next to the relevant lines of code (yay!), making it easy to see what's going on. When the explanation is lengthy, it follows the snippet, instead of sitting next to it, which is harder to understand. I'd like to see side-by-side, code with annotations throughout, which is understandably not easy to do.
- Code snippets are also in the downloadable projects - they mostly work. I couldn't get either Visual Studio or SqlMetal to recognize the stored procedures in the book's database, owing to some kind of protection/login problem using SqlExpress. No biggie, as I'm sure I can get these tools to recognize SPs in my own databases.
- Support website is good, I posted a comment and got a reply from the authors within a day or so.
- DoublePlusGood: Authors include many links to supporting articles, downloadable goodies, etc.
- I feel like I gained a good grasp of the material, and am well positioned to start doing serious work with it.
The Not-So-Good:
- While I saw dozens of lambda expressions, I still don't think I could explain to someone what they are, in a sentence or two. Maybe I missed it, but I expect a book to provide a lucid explanation here, especially on such a key concept, instead of having me infer what's going on by seeing examples.
- The section on Linq-To-Sql is probably the most turgid/dense of the whole book. The author obviously knows his stuff, but there were a few paragraphs in this section I reread numerous times, and still could not get what he was trying to say. The rest of the book is relatively lucid, which is no small thing, given the complexity of the subject.
At times I wondered what I missed by not buying the Apress alternative ("Pro Linq" by Rattz). It's a longer book, has more Amazon ratings, and I like the TOC. I also like the fact that it's written by one author, although "Linq In Action" doesn't suffer a whole lot by having had several people contribute to it. If I get into a jam with Linq, and can't get help from the usual sources, I may purchase Rattz as well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read in a while
Comment: Though I love to read reviews, it's very rare that I actually contribute and write a review. However, I just had to say that this is an EXCELLENT book. I use C# every day and I would say I'm a competent programmer, but I've really been struggling to understand LINQ. I've read some articles online and I've been trying to work my way through another LINQ book, but it hasn't really been sinking in. Then I picked up this book at a local Barnes & Noble. After reading 10 pages in the store coffee shop, I knew I had to buy it, even though I was sure it would be cheaper to buy on Amazon.
It's the best tech book I've read in a while. I find that way too many IT books are way too verbose. I like the books that clearly and quickly explain a topic, maybe with an example, but only when needed. LINQ is a big complex topic, but this book really tackled the topics in a sensible order that made LINQ accessible:
1. Why do we need LINQ?
2. What's been added to C#/VB.NET to support LINQ?
3. What are the building blocks of LINQ?
4. Basic LINQ (LINQ to Objects).
5. LINQ to SQL.
6. LINQ to XML.
Highly recommended.
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