Easiest way to use SQL in a C# application?

Question

I'm making an application in C# (with Express Edition) for which I would like to add some SQL functionality so that the user can query a database. I don't care how or where I store the database. I can store it in a DataTable or a bi-dimensional array or any kind of file. But I want the user to be able to SQL-query it. Apparently this should be quite simple since the .net seems to be full of database libraries and stuff. I was thinking about downloading MySQL and see if I can connect it to my application. I guess if I want to distribute my application then the user would need to download MySQL as well, which is not a big deal but would be great if I can avoid it. Anyway, for now I would like to start working on my program ASAP, so whatever is the easiest way to do what I want, even if it's not distributable, (but if it is then that's even better), will be good. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

There are embeddable databases. SQL Server Compact Edition and SQLite are common ones. You can execute queries against these just as you can MySQL or SQL Server.

SQLite (.NET)
SQL Server Compact

Answer 2

You can use most popular databases with .NET. SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, etc. But you're gonna need drivers of each. So, I'd suggest using SQL Server Express Edition to you to get started.

Then you can easily use SqlConnection and SqlCommand classes to connect and execute queries.

Answer 3

You could use a dbml file in your project and link it to your sql database and then run a sql statement using Linq2SQL documented here

Answer 4

I would look at using and embedded database that you can distribute with your application. SQLite is a very good option. You can then use a free ADO.Net library like System.Data.SQLite for data access. It also provides design time support for Visual Studio.

Answer 5

You can use LINQ to Objects or LINQ to Datasets to run LINQ queries with no database whatsoever. You can't use a bi-dimensional array, but you can use a List<> of objects with properties as a LINQ context.

From your question it sounds like your application, like most applications, may need to store the data for later use: that's where a database will come in handy. .NET Datasets have built in support for persistence to an XML file if your data storage requirements are simple enough to use that. .NET also supports persistence for objects, but you may find that using a database is the simplest solution, especially if you require multi-user access and editing.