So I'm implementing the repository pattern in an application and came across two "issues" in my understanding of the pattern:
Querying - I've read responses that IQueryable should not be used when using repositories. However, it's obvious that you'd want to so that you are not returning a complete List of objects each time you call a method. Should it be implemented? If I have an IEnumerable method called List, what's the general "best practice" for an IQueryable? What parameters should/shouldn't it have?
Scalar values - What's the best way (using the Repository pattern) to return a single, scalar value without having to return the entire record? From a performance standpoint, wouldn't it be more efficient to return just a single scalar value over an entire row?