What is LINQ and what does it do

Question

I am aware that LINQ is for database but what exactly is it?

Answer 1

LINQ or Language Integrated Query may refer to:

1. a collection and iterator manipulation library that heavily relies on higher-order functions as parameters (System.Linq)
2. a library for sending and manipulating abstract syntax trees as simple functions (System.Linq.Expressions)
3. a syntax extension for different languages that provides a more SQL-like syntax for processing collections, a more compact notation for anonymous functions, and a technique for introducing syntactically indistinguishable static helper functions from final member functions
4. an interface specification that data providers must follow in order to receive query structure and potentially execute optimization on it, or the compliant data providers themselves

It is possible that the components may be used in isolation or combined.