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The Microsoft .NET Framework promises to dramatically change the way you and I develop applications—including how we provide data access. ADO.NET, the next generation of ADO, will be the primary data access API for Microsoft .NET applications. If you already know ADO, you'll have a head start on learning ADO.NET. The .NET Framework contains two managed data providers: System.Data.ADO, which exposes generic data-access classes, and System.Data.SQL, which provides SQL Server-specific data-access classes. Here's a preview of the seven main objects in the ADO.NET architecture.
1. DataSet
Shared by both the System.Data.ADO and the System.Data.SQL namespaces, the ADO.NET DataSet object is the core component of the ADO.NET architecture. DataSet, an in-memory database cache for use in disconnected operations, contains a complete collection of tables, relationships, and constraints. ADO.NET posts changes to DataSet's contents in batch to the target data source. DataSet corresponds to ADO's disconnected Recordset object. . . .