Alternative for dataset/datatable returned from ajax enabled wcf service?

Question

I have seen blogs and people saying Returning dataset/datatable from an ajax enabled wcf service is a bad idea.... I have gone through this Scott Hanselman's blog about datasets fr0m wcf...

So what is the alternative for dataset returned form ajax enabled wcf service?

Answer 1

Well, basically, on your server side (where your service method is implemented), either use straight ADO.NET SqlDataReader and assemble the data retrieved into custom classes, or use an ORM like Linq-to-SQL or the Entity Framework or NHibernate or ... or... or..... to do this job.

Then, when you need to return data, either return a List<MyClass> or some other structure, which gets serialized into JSON or XML and doesn't carry the overhead of a whole DataSet/DataTAble.