Linq, DLinq and XML-based Mapping

LinQ is very cool and we all agree with that.

DLinQ seems oriented towards being a simple way to access data that covers most of the simple cases. I think it will add a lot of value to the .NET platform. Now, if you are looking for a 'real' O/R mapping it seems that you'll need to look somewhere else.

But that 'somewhere else' could be inside the .NET platform too. It looks that nobody realized that in DAT200, Pablo Castro from the ADO.NET team showed an .XML file with mappings, and used LINQ over it. The interesting part was that he was not using DLinQ but another mapping technology.

So, if you are looking for an XML-based mapping technology in the .NET platform,  there's still a chance. However, I doubt that MS will include two O/R mappers in the framework, so it will be interesting to see how this story ends.