Mission control to reader . . . you are now nearing the ADO.NET planet in the .NET
solar system of the Microsoft technology galaxy. Make sure no architectural mistake alien eats
you up for dinner . . .
Learning any new topic is like approaching a new planet. As you approach the planet
from a distance, you first identify its place in the solar system, then the major geographical
features on the surface, and finally you land on it and start digging deep and constructing
buildings to finally call it your home. Then one day before you know it, you are married to
a Mrs. Alien, have two kids, a mortgage, a car payment, and find yourself worrying about
your kid’s college education fund.
It is true!! Life is like a computer game, it keeps getting harder and then you die.
So why should learning ADO.NET be any different? Doesn’t it make sense to start at the
basics and then graduate to the complex?
This book begins with three rather short (about 50 pages combined) and simple chapters:
. The first chapter identifies where ADO.NET is located in the .NET solar system and its
various major building blocks.
. The second chapter begins with identifying the major geographical features of the
ADO.NET terrain. It serves very well as a map for the future chapters when you are on
the ground digging deeper. Because this chapter is a map, you will be reminded to ref
erence back to the various figures, class names, and namespaces presented in this
chapter as you dig deeper in the terrain.
. The third chapter is when you land on the planet and start walking around and create
four data-driven applications of increasing complexity.
Once you have landed on the planet, are armed with a map of the area, and have walked around a bit is when it’s time to start digging deeper and do what we humans do so naturally—
exploring (without exploding hopefully).
So let me ask you a question, When you hold a tool such as a hammer in your hand, what
do you do with it? You bang things such as a nail with great force on its head, right?
Now what if someone started telling you, here is a hammer, it has two parts—the head
and the handle. The handle is long and thus helps you exert torque because torque is directly proportional to the radius of the torque arm. The torque translates to a lot of momentum in a rather heavy hammer head. Now because momentum can neither be destroyed nor created per the equation
