LINQ

Language Integrated Query in Entity Framework Core

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Table of Contents

1. LINQ
▪ Filtering
▪ Select / Projection
▪ Aggregation
▪ Joining
▪ SelectMany
2. IEnumerable vs IQueryable
3. Result Models
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Filtering and Aggregating Tables
Select, Join and Group Data Using LINQ
Filtering
▪ Where
▪ Selects values that are based on a predicate function
▪ Syntax
string[] words = { "the", "quick", "brown", "fox", "jumps" };

IEnumerable<string> query =
words.Where(word => word.Length == 3);

IEnumerable<string> query = from word in words

where word.Length == 3
select word;
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Good Reasons to Use Select
▪ Limit network traffic by reducing the queried columns
▪ Syntax
var employeesWithTown = context
.Employees
.Select(employee => new
{
EmployeeName = employee.FirstName,
TownName = employee.Address.Town.Name
});
▪ SQL Server Profiler
SELECT [employee].[FirstName] AS [EmployeeName], [employee.Address.Town].[Name] AS [TownName]
FROM [Employees] AS [employee]
LEFT JOIN [Addresses] AS [employee.Address] ON [employee].[AddressID] = [employee.Address].[AddressID]
LEFT JOIN [Towns] AS [employee.Address.Town] ON [employee.Address].[TownID] =
[employee.Address.Town].[TownID]

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Good Reasons Not to Use Select
▪ Data that is selected is not of the initial entity type
▪ Anonymous type, generated at runtime

▪ Data cannot be modified (updated, deleted)

▪ Entity is of a different type
▪ Not associated with the context anymore
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Aggregation
▪ Aggregate functions perform calculations on a set of input
values and return a value
▪ Average - Calculates the average value of a collection of values
▪ Count - Counts the elements in a collection, optionally only
those elements that satisfy a predicate function
▪ Max and Min - Determine the maximum and the minimum value
in a collection
▪ Sum - Calculates the sum of the values in a collection
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Joining Tables in EF: Using Join()
▪ Join tables in EF with LINQ / extension methods on
IEnumerable<T> (like when joining collections)
var employees =
softUniEntities.Employees.Join(
softUniEntities.Departments,
(e => e.DepartmentID),
(d => d.DepartmentID),
(e, d) => new {
Employee = e.FirstName,
JobTitle = e.JobTitle,
Department = d.Name
}
);

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Grouping Tables in EF
▪ Grouping also can be done by LINQ
▪ The same way as with collections in LINQ
▪ Grouping with LINQ
var groupedEmployees =
from employee in softUniEntities.Employees
group employee by employee.JobTitle;

▪ Grouping with extension methods

var groupedCustomers = softUniEntities.Employees
.GroupBy(employee => employee.JobTitle);

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SelectMany – Example

public class PhoneNumber

{
public string Number { get; set; }
}

public class Person

{
public IEnumerable<PhoneNumber> PhoneNumbers { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}

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SelectMany – Example
IEnumerable<Person> people = new List<Person>();

// "Select" gets a list of lists of phone numbers

IEnumerable<IEnumerable<PhoneNumber>> phoneLists =
people.Select(p => p.PhoneNumbers);

// "SelectMany" flattens it to just a list of phone numbers

IEnumerable<PhoneNumber> phoneNumbers =
people.SelectMany(p => p.PhoneNumbers);

// To include data from the parent in the result pass an expression

// to the second parameter (resultSelector) in the overload
var directory = people.SelectMany(p => p.PhoneNumbers,
(parent, child) => new { parent.Name, child.Number });
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IEnumerable vs IQueryable
IEnumerable<T>
▪ IEnumerable<T> is an interface that is available in the
System.Collection.Generic namespace
▪ Implementation of the Iterator design pattern
▪ IEnumerable or IEnumerable<T> interface should be used
only for in-memory data objects
▪ LINQ methods over IEnumerable<T> use Func<> parameters

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IQueryable<T>
▪ IQueryable<T> is an interface and it is available in
System.Linq
▪ Provides functionality to evaluate queries against a specific
data source where the type of the data may not be specified
▪ The IQueryable interface is intended for implementation by
query providers
▪ LINQ methods over IQueryable<T> use
Expression<Func<>> parameters (expression trees)
▪ Entity Framework can convert expression trees directly into SQL 15
Differences Between IEnumerable and IQueryable

▪ IEnumerable<T> ▪ IQueryable<T>
▪ System.Collections. ▪ System.Linq namespace
Generic ▪ Derives the base interface from
▪ Base type for almost all IEnumerable<T>
.NET collections ▪ LINQ methods works with
▪ LINQ methods works with Expression<Func<>>
Func<> ▪ Good for queries over data
▪ Good for in-memory data stores such as databases

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Result Models
Simplifying Models
Result Models
▪ Select(), GroupBy() can work with custom classes
▪ Allow you to pass them to methods and use them
as a return type
▪ Require some extra code (class definition)
▪ Sample Result Model
public class UserResultModel
{
public string FullName { get; set; }
public string Age { get; set; }
}
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Result Models
▪ Assign the fields as you would with an anonymous object
var currentUser = context.Users
.Where(u => u.Id == 8)
.Select(u => new UserResultModel
{
FullName = u.FirstName + " " + u.LastName,
Age = u.Age
})
.SingleOrDefault();

▪ The new type can be used in a method signature

public UserResultModel GetUserInfo(int Id) { … }
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Summary

▪ ▪ LINQ
…
▪ ▪…Filtering, Aggregation, SelectMany, Joins
▪ ▪ IEnumerable
…
▪ IQueryable
▪ Differences between IEnumerable
and IQueryable
▪ Result Models
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