Getting started using Linq, what do I need?

Question

Basically what the title says. (Forgive me because I am a .NET newb)

In my department, we have a server running .net 3.5 and ever since I got into this section I have be

Answer 1

OK, first about the .NET 3.5 thing. The runtime(CLR) of 3.5 is still the same as in .NET 2.0. There are a bunch of new libraries plus (among other things) a new C#-Compiler.

So to run LINQ in theory you just need to have .NET 2.0 installed and throw a few additional assemblies into the GAC. If you want to know which ones, please add this to your question, I'm too lazy to look it up now.

If you can, just install the .NET 3.5 Framework on your server and yes, all .NET 2.0 programs will work there as before. Don't forget to scan the readme though :-)

I don't really understand your "What do I need to get up and running" question though. Do you want to to learn about LINQ? Try LinqPad. Do you want to develop solutions with LINQ? Then at a minimum I would recommend VS2008 Express.

To compile LINQ expressions you have to use the C# 3.0 compiler which isn't in the .NET 2.0 framework. As stated above the output of that compiler is compatible with .NET 2.0 though.