Entity Framework Core

Entity Framework Core (EF Core) is Microsoft’s modern object-database mapper for .NET. It enables developers to work with databases using .NET objects, eliminating the need for most of the data-access code they usually need to write.

Why Use Entity Framework?

  1. Object-Relational Mapping (ORM)
    • Work with database using C# classes
    • No need to write SQL queries manually
    • Automatic mapping between objects and database tables
  2. Database Independence
    • Switch between different database providers
    • Support for SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite
    • Same code works with different databases
  3. Productivity Features
    • Automatic change tracking
    • LINQ support for queries
    • Migration management
    • Relationship handling
  4. Development Approaches
    • Database-First: Generate models from existing database
    • Code-First: Create database from C# classes
    • Model-First: Design models and generate both

Key Components

  1. DbContext
    • Central class for database interaction
    • Manages entity instances
    • Handles database connections
    • Configures model & relationships
  2. Entities
    • C# classes that map to database tables
    • Properties represent table columns
    • Navigation properties for relationships
    • Data annotations for configuration
  3. Migrations
    • Version control for database schema
    • Track database changes
    • Apply/revert database updates
    • Generate SQL scripts
  4. LINQ Provider
    • Query databases using LINQ
    • Type-safe queries
    • IntelliSense support
    • Translated to efficient SQL

Getting Started

  1. Install NuGet Packages: 
    dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore
dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer  # For SQL Server
  2. Create Entity Classes
  3. Set up DbContext
  4. Configure Connection String
  5. Generate and Apply Migrations