In this article, we are going to learn about LINQ basic concepts in C#. We will use different syntax with different methods

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LINQ is a uniform query language, introduced with .NET 3.5. We are going to see why we should use LINQ in our codebase, and different ways to implement and execute LINQ queries. We will explore the three distinct steps of a LINQ query operation:Obtain the data source create the query and execute the query.

LINQ Basic Concepts in C#

Different Steps of a LINQ Query Operation

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using LINQ

<blockquote>
<p>One thing to mention. All the previous methods (Where, OrderBy, OrderByDescending, Select, GroupBy) return collection as a result. So, in order to use all the data inside the collection, we have to iterate over it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Perhaps, you should have mentioned here that these methods actually return not collection but special LINQ iterator. Thus, changes in source IEnumerable will affect the output. For example:</p>
<pre><code>List<int> ints = new List<int> { 1, 2, 3 };

IEnumerable<int> whereResult
  = ints.Where(i => i < 3);

foreach (var item in whereResult)
  Console.WriteLine(item);
  // output: 1, 2

ints.Add(-1);

foreach (var item in whereResult)
  Console.WriteLine(item);
  // output: 1, 2, -1
</code></pre>
