Is it just me? I find LINQ to XML to be sort of cumbersome, compared to XPath.
- by Cheeso
I am a C# programmer, so I don't get to take advantage of the cool XML syntax in VB.
Dim itemList1 = From item In rss.<rss>.<channel>.<item> _
Where item.<description>.Value.Contains("LINQ") Or _
item.<title>.Value.Contains("LINQ")
Using C#, I find XPath to be easier to think about, easier to code, easier to understand, than performing a multi-nested select using LINQ to XML. Look at this syntax, it looks like Greek swearing:
var waypoints = from waypoint in gpxDoc.Descendants(gpx + "wpt")
select new
{
Latitude = waypoint.Attribute("lat").Value,
Longitude = waypoint.Attribute("lon").Value,
Elevation = waypoint.Element(gpx + "ele") != null ?
waypoint.Element(gpx + "ele").Value : null,
Name = waypoint.Element(gpx + "name") != null ?
waypoint.Element(gpx + "name").Value : null,
Dt = waypoint.Element(gpx + "cmt") != null ?
waypoint.Element(gpx + "cmt").Value : null
};
All the casting, the heavy syntax, the possibility for NullPointerExceptions. None of this happens with XPath.
I like LINQ in general, and I use it on object collections and databases, but my first go-round with querying XML led me right back to XPath.
Is it just me?
Am I missing something?
EDIT: someone voted to close this as "not a real question". But it is a real question, stated clearly. The question is: Am I misunderstanding
something with LINQ to XML?
