Like in Lambda Expression and LINQ

Question

How can I do something like this:

customers.where(c=>c.Name **like** "john"); 

I know this isn't possible but I was wondering how can I have something similar.

Answer 1

customers.Where(c => c.Name.Contains("john")); 

Answer 2

If you are targeting LINQ to SQL, use SqlMethods.Like:

customers.Where(c => SqlMethods.Like(c.Name, "%john%"));  

Explanation:

The compiler will generate an expression tree from the statement above. Since LIKE is a SQL specific construct and not common to all LINQ Query providers, the SqlMethods class and its members are used as a "hint" for the expression compiler (compiles expression trees to SQL) to emit a LIKE statement.