# LINQ - Query and Method Syntax
# Exploring the eRestaurant Database
This series of samples are written to be evaluated using linqpad. The database used in these samples is eRestaurant. When running these samples, choose the eRestuarant database as the LinqPad query's connection.
ERD
Simple LINQ statements can be written using Query syntax and/or Method syntax. The .NET framework includes a number of extensions for LINQ that provide additional LINQ capabilities that are only available through Method syntax. A key point to remember is that every Query syntax statement has an equivalent Method syntax version, but not all LINQ Methods can be written using Query syntax. It's also good to remember that you can mix & match query and method syntax (up to a point).
LinqPad is a perfect tool for exploring LINQ. It provides an editor to write your C# (or VB) code, and an output window that can show you the results of the LINQ statements as well as the method syntax and the equivalent SQL that LINQ generates when connecting to a database.
The following sections demonstrate LINQ queries in LinqPad, written as expressions, statements and a simple console-like program in C#.