This is not quite correct. The SQL generated in this case depends on the return type of GetThings(). If it returns an IEnumerable<> then it is indeed a terribl

This is not quite correct. The SQL generated in this case depends on the return type of GetThings(). If it returns an IEnumerable<> then it is indeed a terrible thing to do, but if it returns an IQueryable<> then the SQL will be a SELECT COUNT() query, and no objects will be created. Care does have to be taken when writing this sort of code!