A member of my team recently moved to LinqPad as his primary query tool (still will use SQL Studio at times) for the simple purpose of forcing himself to make using LINQ more natural to use. I thought this was a pretty good idea and am considering asking the rest of my team to make this switch. Does anyone have any thoughts / ideas on taking this approach?
Early questions I had...
I feel being able to write good ANSI SQL is critical for a LOB developer. Since LINQ is a Microsoft thing, is the skills they will learn in LINQ worth the sacrifice in fully developing their ANSI SQL techniques, particularly if (when) they move on to other jobs/duties later in life. Developer development (inside and outside of company) is extremely important to me.
Are there any features in SQL Studio that will be sorely missed in LinqPad?
Does LinqPad have long term life? In other words, does everyone feel that LinqPad is a product that will continue to grow as .NET and SQL grows?