Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
Just a note, I've got to bail out of here for the day, and I'm traveling tomorrow, so I'll be mostly out of touch -- please don't take it as a lack of interest!  |
No worries..
Look up the LINQ project. Basically, it's a unification of querying and data access across the entire stack (objects, databases, xml, ... whatever including Amazon, Flickr, ActiveDirectory, etc). Oracle support should be available "soon" ("soon" == "later this year"). This ain't your old ADO, nor is it even your old ADO.NET (though the database provider bits for LINQ are built on top of them).
If you happen to catch your local .NET User's Group meetings, there are often chances to get free software. But there's also the Express line (Visual Basic 2008 Express, etc) which are also free, if a little cut down from the full professional SKUs.
I'm currently in the middle of rewriting my website after how many years of decrepitude, but it's already apparent how much easier life has become just in the last few months for doing database and web development. I'd taken a few years off the latter, and I'm having to catch up technology-wise, myself.