LINQ to SQL vs. SQL Server Reporting Services, which one is good enough for the following?

Question

Basic reporting on content usage including time spent viewing a media asset, progress and interactivity based on % complete or correct for up to tens of thousands of users. Basic table and text based reports. Everything is in a SQL Server 2005 database. To me I don't feel like I should have trouble optimizing the LINQ to SQL to be good enough for this, but would there be a great gain from harnessing the Reporting Services? My initial thought is that the amount of effort would be higher and that I won't be able to achieve much more than what is possible with LINQ given the type of data and basic reports I am generating. Anyone have experience with this?

Answer 1

I would not choose reporting services based on efficiency only. SSRS has a ton of features that you may or may not need. If efficiency is your only decision, then I would say it is between LINQ2SQL and just running a query to the DB through a stored procedure.

Answer 2

I'd prefer you to go with SSRS but only because you yourself have agreed that you don't have to be efficiency centric. Linq2Sql is a good option but SSRS provides a very MS-way of doing this stuff. You have a good GUI, wizards, easy configurability.

The advantages of SSRS are not only in the ease of development but also in maintaining and tweaking the reports. Your reports won't be static and may change over time. And tweaking reports in SSRS is MUCH easier and can be done by a novice also. The RDL format is XML-based which is also an advantage. You can always share it and collaborate easily.

To Summarize:

SSRS
Pros:
Ease of use
Can be developed/changed by novice uesrs
Good for maintainability
Nice for graphic-based reports too
Cons:
Speed
S/w Cost :)

Linq2Sql
Pros:
Speed
Cons:
Expertise required to develop/maintain/change
Difficult in changing