Summary: in this tutorial, you will explore the fundamental concepts of Entity Framework Core and understand why EF Core is a good choice for your applications.
Introduction to the Entity Framework Core
Entity Framework Core, or EF Core, is a powerful Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tool developed by Microsoft for interacting with the database within .NET applications.
EF Core is designed to simplify data access by providing a high-level abstraction over the database. So instead of dealing with SQL queries directly via ADO.NET, you can work with objects and classes that represent database tables.
This approach allows you to eliminate the need for writing repetitive and error-prone SQL code. As a result, your code is cleaner and more secure.
Entity Framework Core features
EF core has the following features:
- Object-Relational Mapping: EF Core maps tables from the database to corresponding classes, known as entities, in your application. This allows you to interact with the database table using familiar object-oriented techniques.
- Querying Data: EF Core offers a rich set of query capabilities, allowing you to retrieve data using LINQ (Language Integrated Query).
- Change Tracking: EF Core can track changes made to entities, allowing you to easily update the database with the modified data. EF Core automatically generates required SQL statements for creating, reading, updating, and deleting data.
- Support both Code First and Database First: EF Core supports both Code First and Database First approaches. In the Code First approach, you define model classes, EF Core generates the database tables based on these model classes. In the database first approach, you define tables in the database, and EF core automatically generates the model classes from the database. This helps you reduce signification development time and effort.
- Database Migrations: The migration feature helps you simplify the process of changing the database schema over time and have proper versioning that is compatible with the code base.
Entity Framework Core Benefits
EF Core has the following benefits:
- Productivity: By abstracting away the complexities of database interaction, Entity Framework allows developers to focus more on the application’s logic and less on data access code. This leads to increased productivity and faster development cycles.
- Platform Independence: EF Core is cross-platform and works seamlessly on Windows, macOS, and Linux. This allows you to build applications that can run across platforms without rewriting the data access layer.
- Testability: EF core allows you to mock the data access layer during unit testing, ensuring the quality of your application.
- Security: EF Core has tools to help you prevent common security vulnerabilities in the database applications such as SQL injection.
Summary
- Use EF Core to simplify data access in .NET applications.
