Wow, I missed all the fun yesterday! Guess I'll add my 2 cents now too.

I say, start simple and work your way up. Simple is using ADO.NET and Typed DataSets. Others will disagree with this approach, but I think it's better to start with the basics first.

I have a few posts on my blog about DataAccess classes, it's kind of a 3-part series:

http://geek-goddess-bonnie.blogspot.com/2009/09/dataaccess-part-i.html
http://geek-goddess-bonnie.blogspot.com/2009/10/dataaccess-part-ii.html
http://geek-goddess-bonnie.blogspot.com/2009/10/dataaccess-part-iii.html

I don't really have any blog posts that talk a lot about DataBinding, other than one that just mentions keeping everything in sync using the bindings correctly (http://geek-goddess-bonnie.blogspot.com/2009/09/keeping-datagrids-and-other-ui-controls.html) ... and even though this post is fairly recent, it's a bit outdated because my examples are binding directly to a DataTable whereas it might be better to use a BindingSource. But, there's no "step-by-step here's how you do it" for DataBinding in my blog.

But, anyway, just adding a few more ideas for you to think about. <g>

~~Bonnie




>You know, I guess I was spoiled with Visual FoxPro; it seems that Microsoft (and earlier with Fox Software) took such a simple approach to handling data that I cannot now understand how it is that this can be made so complex in .NET.
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>Yes, I am complaining.
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>I am pouring through C# books, and all kinds of other books, and I am telling you, there is no simple way to do data in .NET. Of course, admittedly, I am speaking from inexperience with .NET. I am still trying to learn C#, much less how to handle data. Still, data handling, in my opinion, is a much more complex matter in .NET. Why does it have to be this way? It seems that there is a multitude of ways to handle data, using LINQ, ADO.NET, and so on. I just don't know where to begin. I just ordered Murach's ADO.NET 3.5 with C# book to see if this might help me a bit.
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>Also, a few years ago when I got into C# in some local colleges, C# also seemed cryptic to me, but it now seems much easier. I guess it is a matter of time and experience. I don't think it is this way entirely with .NET data handling. There seem to be many more steps to handling data, unlike VFP and other xBased languages.
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>Okay, I am finished with my complaining for now. :)
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>Does anyone want to help me complain, or perhaps direct me to a simple tutorial on .NET data-handling?
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>Has anyone else on UT here felt just as frustrated as I am feeling, or did y'all get over it 3 or 4 years ago while I was still making money with VFP?