This is a prototype of a RethinkDB client driver written in C# for the .NET platform. This driver utilizes .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0.

Currently this driver is capable of the following things:

• Connecting to a RethinkDB database. For example:

  IConnection connection;
  connection = ConfigConnectionFactory.Instance.Get("testCluster");
  connection.Logger = new DefaultLogger(LoggingCategory.Debug, Console.Out);
    
  await connection.ConnectAsync();      
  

• All of the RethinkDB queries, joins, transformations, aggregations, and reductions:

  • DbList
  • DbCreate
  • DbDrop
  • TableList
  • TableCreate
  • TableDrop
  • Table
  • Get
  • Between
  • Filter
  • Update
  • Delete
  • Replace
  • Count
  • OrderBy
  • Skip
  • Limit
  • Slice
  • Nth
  • InnerJoin
  • OuterJoin
  • EqJoin
  • Zip
  • Distinct
  • Union
  • Map
  • ConcatMap
  • Reduce
  • GroupBy
  • GroupedMapReduce

• Filter, Update, Inner/Outer/EqJoin, Map, Reduce, etc. can be built using C# expressions (with limitations) that are compile-time safe, and are automatically translated into RethinkDB's query language. For example, Query.Db("db").Table<ObjectDefinition>("objects").Update(o => new ObjectDefinition { Name = o.Name + " (new name!)" }).

• Converting data into objects and objects into data; non-primitive objects are marked up using [DataContract] and [DataMember] attributes similar to WCF data contracts.

• References to object attributes are compile-time verified by using C# expression trees. For example, Query.Db("db").Table<ObjectDefinition>("objects").OrderBy(o => o.Name). Applies to OrderBy, EqJoin, and GroupBy.

• Anonymous types can be used in functions like Map and Reduce. For example:

  Query
    .Db("db")
    .Table<ObjectDefinition>("objects")
    .Map(od => new { Sum = od.Value, Count = 1.0 })
    .Reduce((left, right) => new { Sum = left.Sum + right.Sum, Count = left.Count + right.Count })
  

• Strong compile-time safety using generics. Every query operation knows what type it returns, and whether it returns an object or an enumerable.

• Performing absolutely everything asynchronously, with a synchronous API too if desired.

• Reading streaming / chunked datasets using an async iterator.

• Being 100% compatible with Mono (3.0+).

Currently this driver is lacking in the following areas:

• Does not support schema-free / free-format objects. Although the object conversion routines are interfaced out so that they can be replaced with something different as required, the first goal is to provide a client that works well in a native C# environment, and that implies type safety and structure.

• Supporting free-format objects will require alternative interfaces to OrderBy, EqJoin, and GroupBy, all of which use expression trees for attribute references.

• Limited support for serialized object types with the provided DataContract-based datum converter classes. No "int"s, for example; only doubles.

• RethinkDB manipulations (pluck / merge / without / append / contains) and control structures (branch / forEach / error / coerceTo / typeOf) are not currently supported. Some manipulations (pluck / merge / without / append) are maybe not really compatible with the strong typing approach this library currently supports.

• Documentation. You're reaching the end of it, and it probably hasn't helped you at all.

I welcome pull requests. This is just the start of a RethinkDB client for .NET. It's nowhere near the end.