Do you use LINQ instead of CAML?

In SharePoint development, it is always a good practice to use LINQ, instead of CAML. Why CAML is bad?

• New language skills required for .NET developers
• No IntelliSense or strongly typed objects

Why LINQ is good?

• No new language skills required
• Easier to read and write
• SPMetal is awesome for generating entity classes
• In the backend, LINQ provider translates as much as it can to CAML first

SPQueryquery = newSPQuery();

query.Query= String.Format(“

<Where>

<And>

<Contains><FieldRefName=‘Tags’ /><ValueType=‘Text’>{0}</Value></Contains>

<IsNotNull><FieldRefName=‘URL’ /></IsNotNull>

</And>

</Where>

<OrderBy>

<FieldRefName=‘PostedOn’ Ascending=‘TRUE’ />

</OrderBy>”, _filter);

SPListItemCollectionlistItemsColl= resourceList.GetItems(query);

❌ Figure: Figure: Bad example – using CAML

Var resourceListItems =

From SPListItem item in resourceList.Items

Where item.Tags.ToString().ToLower().Contains(_filter)

&& item.URL.ToString().Length> 0

OrderBy item.PostedOn Ascending

✅ Figure: Figure: Good example – using LINQ