In-Memory Database System (IMDBS) specialist McObject has added support in its eXtremeDB product for Language Integrated Query (LINQ), a Microsoft .NET Framework component that adds SQL-like data querying capabilities to .NET languages.
After already providing a C# API for eXtremeDB, McObject is showcasing this new support extension as a further expansion of its product's functionalities. The C# API itself has provided developers with what is arguably a new and more extensible approach to database querying. Programmers also get protection against software bugs caused by data-typing errors.
Effective immediately, eXtremeDB editions for Windows support LINQ and include a specialized LINQ provider that implements queries using multiple database index types. LINQ queries can be included in any application that defines and interacts with an eXtremeDB database using the C# API.
McObject contends that developers accustomed to SQL will find many LINQ query operators, such as "Select", "Where" and "Join", to be familiar. The company makes other unreferenced and unsubstantiated claims relating to other frequently cited LINQ benefits, which apparently include higher developer productivity (through easy query parameterization and code reuse, for example) and the ability to query a wide range of data sources including RDBMSs, XML files, and .NET collection classes.
"LINQ enables eXtremeDB for .NET users to benefit from the IntelliSense feature of Microsoft's Visual Studio, which automatically completes text the developer is typing, fills in symbols and parameters, and provides other services to speed up programming. In addition, LINQ adds type-safety: Queries are checked for correctness when compiled and, if necessary, rejected. This eliminates data-typing errors, which comprise a major source of runtime bugs," said the company in a statement.
There's a degree of sales spin with this latest announcement from McObject, but if you buy the concept then there may be something in it. McObject suggests that its eXtremeDB IMDBS delivers the responsiveness demanded in real-time applications that cannot tolerate the latency imposed by on-disk database systems.
Key features include all-in-memory data storage and manipulation; support for ACID (Atomic, Consistent, Isolated, and Durable) database transactions, complex data types and multiple database indexes; a powerful debugging environment and multiple, intuitive APIs; custom collations; optional multi-version concurrency control (MVCC) transaction manager; RC4 encryption and page-level cyclic redundancy check (CRC), for security; exceptional portability; and available source code.
