VBConversions Mentioned on MVP Blog

Converting VB LINQ to C# LINQ

VB.Net to C# Converter is one of the few conversion tools that knows about LINQ and lambdas and the other 3.5 stuff. I turned to a trial version of the product after going in circles on this VB code conversion:

Dim q = From c In dc.Categories, _
        p In dc.Products _
        Where c.CategoryID = p.CategoryID _
        Group p By c.CategoryName Into Group _
        Select New With _
        {.cgname = CategoryName, _
         .prdcts = Group}

While other tools choked, VBConversions churned out this:

var q = (from c in dc.Categories
         from p in dc.Products
         where c.CategoryID == p.CategoryID
         group p by c.CategoryName into g
         let CategoryName = g.Key
         let Group = g.ToArray()
         select new { CategoryName, Group }).Select(s =>
          new { cgname = s.CategoryName, prdcts = s.Group });

I'm not sure I would have figured that out on my own.

Actually, I fixed a small bug in the conversion. The original result had the assignment operator (=) instead of the comparison operator (==) in the where clause. When I reported this issue to the author, I got a prompt, polite, and appreciative response with the assurance of a fix in the next release. (VBConversions note - this was fixed in the 2.20 release.).

One thing that I'd like to see is a snippet converter in the tool. Right now, you need to point the converter to a VS project file - something I don't normally use in file-based, ASP.NET 3.5 Web development.

For more info on VB.Net to C# Converter, see http://vbconversions.net/ .

BTW, I had to smile at C#'s use of "let" in LINQ syntax. Don't I remember Let from the earliest BASIC days?