A quick example of inline xml and Linq

Code

[code:c#]

void LinqToXmlSample()
{
  Console.WriteLine("{0} : Start", new StackTrace(0, true).GetFrame(0).GetMethod().Name);

  XDocument xDocument = new XDocument(
    new XElement("people",
      new XElement("person",
        new XAttribute("sex", "male"),
        new XElement("FirstName", "Brian"),
        new XElement("LastName", "Keating")),
      new XElement("person",
        new XAttribute("type", "female"),
        new XElement("FirstName", "Dustin"),
        new XElement("LastName", "Turkey"))));

  IEnumerable<XElement> elements =
    xDocument.Element("people").Descendants("FirstName");

  /*  First, I will display the source elements.*/
  foreach (XElement element in elements)
  {
    Console.WriteLine("Source element: {0} : value = {1}",
      element.Name, element.Value);
  }

  /*  Now, I will display the ancestor elements for each source element.*/
  foreach (XElement element in elements.Ancestors())
  {
    Console.WriteLine("Ancestor element: {0}", element.Name);
  }

  Console.WriteLine("{0} : Finish", new StackTrace(0, true).GetFrame(0).GetMethod().Name);
}

[/code]

Output

LinqToXmlSample : Start
Source element: FirstName : value = Brian
Source element: FirstName : value = Dustin
Ancestor element: person
Ancestor element: people
Ancestor element: person
Ancestor element: people
LinqToXmlSample : Finish

[Update August 2012: Little did I know when i wrote this post just how much I would use Linq to xml, it saved me from a life of xslt ]