SQL/C# - Best method for executing a query

Question

I need to execute a sql query from within a c# class. I have thought of 2 options

1. Starting a process of sqlcmd.
2. Using a SqlCommand object.

Answer 1

It depends. If you don't care about the result of the query forking a process which uses sqlcmd might be OK. If on the other hand you need to control the results it would be better to use ADO.NET. To avoid keeping the connection open for a long time make sure you disable ADO.NET connection pooling by adding Pooling=false to your connection string:

using (var conn = new SqlConnection("Data Source=server;Initial Catalog=somedb;User Id=foo;Password=secret;Pooling=false"))
using (var cmd = conn.CreateCommand())
{
    conn.Open();
    cmd.CommandText = "DELETE FROM foo";
    var result = cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}