LINQ - Language INtegrated Queries - are a developers dream come true. Queries are an integral part of the primary programming language. They are typesafe, compile-time checked, refactorable and autocompleted by the IDE. If you want to read up more on LINQ, Charlie Calvert’s Links to LINQ are a nice starting point.
At db4objects we really like LINQ. Isn’t it cool that Microsoft has come up with a standard that is a great fit for object databases?
LINQ is available for .NET, but what do we have for Java? Nothing comparable really. What would it take to implement language integrated queries for Java?
A plugin for the Eclipse IDE and compiler with support for basic LINQ queries would be a great start to get the Java community excited. Wouldn’t this be a very nice open source project to work on together?
At the icoodb conference we discussed this idea and the feedback we got from other object database vendors was very positive.
With this blog posting I would like to pick up the idea.
Are you interested to help implement a LINQ-for-Java prototype? If you are, please join the LINQ-for-Java Google group and reply to this thread.
The group also hosts a poll thread: Would you like to see LINQ for Java?.
If you think that LINQ for Java is a great idea, please add your +1 vote to this thread.
I have also posted an outline with the principle plan:
- Collect supporters in the LINQ-for-Java group
- Start the LINQ-for-Java Open Source project (probably using the Google Code hosting system)
- Implement a free (as in freedom) prototype
- Promote LINQ-for-Java with key industry players
- File a Java JSR
- Create a reference implementation
- Promote LINQ-for-Java as the standard database access layer for Java
If you are in for this plan, please help.