Do you use LINQ instead of CAML?

Last updated by Tiago Araújo [SSW] almost 2 years ago.See history

In SharePoint development, it is always a good practice to use LINQ, instead of CAML.

Why CAML is bad?

  • New language skills required for .NET developers
  • No IntelliSense or strongly typed objects

Why LINQ is good?

  • No new language skills required
  • Easier to read and write
  • SPMetal is awesome for generating entity classes
  • In the backend, LINQ provider translates as much as it can to CAML first
SPQueryquery = newSPQuery(); 

query.Query= String.Format(“

<Where>

<And>

<Contains><FieldRefName=‘Tags’ /><ValueType=‘Text’>{0}</Value></Contains>

<IsNotNull><FieldRefName=‘URL’ /></IsNotNull>

</And>

</Where>

<OrderBy>

<FieldRefName=‘PostedOn’ Ascending=‘TRUE’ />

</OrderBy>”, _filter);

SPListItemCollectionlistItemsColl= resourceList.GetItems(query);

Figure: Bad example – using CAML

Var resourceListItems =

From SPListItem item in resourceList.Items

Where item.Tags.ToString().ToLower().Contains(_filter)

&& item.URL.ToString().Length> 0

OrderBy item.PostedOn Ascending

Figure: Good example – using LINQ

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