Entity Framework Core Introduction

Entity Framework Core Introduction

It also reduces the code size of the data specific applications and also the readability of the code increases by using it. This is a new technology for accessing the data for Microsoft application. Entity Framework is an open-source ORM framework for .NET applications supported by Microsoft. It enables developers to work with data using objects of domain specific classes without focusing on the underlying database tables and columns where this data is stored. With the Entity Framework, developers can work at a higher level of abstraction when they deal with data, and can create and maintain data-oriented applications with less code compared with traditional applications. That means the Entity Framework eliminates the need to write the data-access code that developers usually need to write.

These builds contain latest features and bug fixes; previews and official releases lag significantly behind. Microsoft.Data.Sqlite is a lightweight ADO.NET provider for SQLite. However, it can also be used independently or with other data access libraries.

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The following figure illustrates the supported application types, .NET Frameworks and OSs. An ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) is used to interact with a database using an object-oriented programming language. ORMs allow developers to work with databases using familiar, object-oriented concepts, rather than writing raw SQL statements. These commands will create the initial database migration and apply it to your SQL Server instance.

The entity framework meaning is an Object/Relational Mapping (O/RM) framework that maps objects to relational databases. EF Core is designed to work with .NET Core applications but can also be used with standard .NET Framework applications based on Framework 4.5 or higher. The following diagram shows the supported types of applications that we can develop using EF Core. As per the above figure, Entity Framework fits between the business entities (domain classes) and the database. In the code-first approach, EF Core API creates the database and tables using migration based on the conventions and configuration provided in your domain classes.

NuGet.config

Entity Framework is an open-source object-relational mapper framework for .NET applications supported by Microsoft. It increases the developer’s productivity as it enables developers to work with data using objects of domain-specific classes without focusing on the underlying database tables and columns where this data is stored. It eliminates the need for most of the data-access code which is used to interact with the database that developers usually need to write. It provides an abstract level to the developers to work with a relational table and columns by using the domain-specific object.

• For a full tutorial configuring the DbContext, defining the model, and creating the database, see getting started in the docs.
• At this step, your appsettings.json must have your ConnectionString already.
• So, in simple words, we can say that the ORM Framework eliminates the need for most of the data access code that, as a developer, we generally write.
• It enables developers to work with data using objects of domain specific classes without focusing on the underlying database tables and columns where this data is stored.
• It was originally shipped as an integral part of .NET Framework, however starting with Entity Framework version 6.0 it has been delivered separately from the .NET Framework.

We recommend using the daily builds to get the latest code and provide feedback on EF Core. Version 5.0.0 was released on August 11, 2012[11] and is targeted at .NET framework 4.5. Also, this version is available for .Net framework 4, but without any runtime advantages over version 4. The following figure illustrates the code-first development workflow. EF Core continues to support the following features and concepts, same as EF 6.

What is Entity Framework?

In this Entity Framework Tutorials article series, we will start from the very basics and, as we progress, cover all the intermediate and advanced features of Entity Framework as well. We welcome community pull requests for bug fixes, enhancements, and documentation. We read every piece of feedback, and take your input very seriously.

Most people use EF Core by installing pre-build NuGet packages, as shown above. To take full advantage of this Entity Framework Core Tutorials, you should have the basic knowledge of C# and any database such as SQL Server, Oracle, or MySQL to gain more knowledge of these tutorials. Having .NET Core, Visual Studio, and SQL Server installed on your computer is good. Entity Framework Core is an ORM Tool that increases the developer’s productivity by reducing the redundant task of doing CRUD operations against a database in a .NET Core Application.

EF 6 Version History

As you can see in the above figure, EF API will create the database based on your domain classes and configuration. This means you need to start coding first in C# or VB.NET and then EF will create the database from your code. Again, when we want to read the data from the database into our application, we also have to write some custom code to map the data to our model classes like Student, Department, Address, etc.

Alternately, the code can be built and packages can be created directly on your development machine. If you have a specific question about using these projects, we encourage you to ask it on Stack Overflow. If you encounter a bug or would like to request a feature, submit an issue.

It was released along with .NET Core and is an Extensible, Lightweight, Open Source, and Cross-Platform Version of Entity Framework data access technology. It works on multiple operating systems like Windows, Mac, and Linux. Entity Framework (EF) is an open source[2] object–relational mapping (ORM) framework for ADO.NET. It was originally shipped as an integral part of .NET Framework, however starting with Entity Framework version 6.0 it has been delivered separately from the .NET Framework.

The ChangeTrack keeps track of the states of each entity as and when an action is performed. Entity Framework Core uses a provider model to access many different databases. EF Core includes providers as NuGet packages which you need to install.

Performance Profiling

So, in simple words, we can say that the ORM Framework eliminates the need for most of the data access code that, as a developer, we generally write. EF API translates LINQ-to-Entities queries to SQL queries for relational databases using EDM and also converts results back to entity objects. It uses EDM in building SQL queries from LINQ queries, building INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE commands, and transform database result into entity objects. Prior to .NET 3.5, we (developers) often used to write ADO.NET code or Enterprise Data Access Block to save or retrieve application data from the underlying database. We used to open a connection to the database, create a DataSet to fetch or submit the data to the database, convert data from the DataSet to .NET objects or vice-versa to apply business rules.