LINQ is the next generation query system for managed languages (It stands for Language Integrated Query). You can view the LINQ FAQ here. The exciting thing to me about LINQ is that the database and the query system are no longer tied tightly around SQL. You can query anything, objects, XML, databases using the same format in LINQ. This is where VistaDB’s architecture will once again begin to shine. Since our low level database storage engine is not tied to SQL (or any query system) we are going to build a provider for LINQ to allow LINQ queries in a variety of manners. I spoke with some of the LINQ team at TechEd and they were very excited about the fact that we could built a provider layer for LINQ to a database that uses no strings. They agreed that removing strings from the system would speed us up, and that since we are 100% managed and could store and load managed types without conversion we would have another advantage over unmanaged database vendors. Over the next few months we will be working closer with Microsoft to tie beta / development builds of the VistaDB LINQ provider to their beta releases. I feel that VistaDB is very uniquely positioned to take advantage of a huge LINQ initiative from Microsoft. The inclusion of LINQ in VistaDB will boost our performance, and allow our other data engines (SQL and DDA) to benefit as well. Microsoft extended an offer to have me visit Redmond for their ADO.NET provider summit, and I plan to accept. We will be there alongside Oracle, DB2, Sybase, etc, and I think we have a huge advantage over them all. They are scrambling to support Dot Net, we are already here. I fielded a number of questions from people at the show about our CLR Procs support (Some from the SQL CE team!). It appears that a number of other vendors have attempted to do what we do with CLR Procs, but have failed. Mostly because they are trying to host the CLR through a COM interface into their unmanaged database, a problem VistaDB does not have. Silverlight – In case you have been on a media fast the past few weeks:

Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. Silverlight offers a flexible and consistent programming model that supports AJAX, Python, Ruby, and .NET languages such as Visual Basic and C#, and integrates with existing Web applications. Silverlight media capabilities include fast, cost-effective delivery of high-quality audio and video to all major browsers including Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer running on Mac or Windows. By using Expression Studio and Visual Studio, designers and developers can collaborate more effectively using the skills they have today to light up the Web of tomorrow.

Silverlight developer site  Silverlight is a managed system, and a way to deploy managed assemblies cross platform (Mac / Firefox / IE / etc). This is pretty neat in that you can write C# code and deploy it as a rich app cross platform. That has always been one of my problems with click once deployment, you were stuck in how to deploy it. Silverlight changes that entirely. OK, great you have this Silverlight application, how are you going to store the data? That’s right, using VistaDB! Since we are 100% managed we can live inside the Silverlight runtime and store the data for you. I think this is where the power of VistaDB being 100% managed is really going to start showing. You simply cannot embed any other type of database into Silverlight. Unless they are written in C#, and are 100% typesafe they cannot run in Silverlight. You cannot call COM interop, you cannot use a Delphi app with a managed wrapper. It must be 100% dot net. I plan on playing with Silverlight some more in the coming weeks, and will post more of my findings. The next 12 months I think you will all agree that the next 12 months are going to be very, very interesting. Most of the people I talk to in the database world (long time DBA’s, etc) say that LINQ this is the most exciting thing to happen to DBA’s in 10 years. I think that may be an overstatement, but LINQ is certainly giving a lot of DBA’s reason to learn a managed language, and a new set of job skills.