Let’s modify the default route in the RouteConfig class so that when the application runs for the first time it will redirect to the Index Action method of Employee Controller. Likely the most complex query in this list, let’s find actors playing characters in different productions. We’ll need to start at the Actors entity and navigate through the Characters collection while including the Production information. As we can see, EF Core passes our value of 1 to the database as a parameter. Any constant we define in C# will be added as either a parameter or hardcoded into the SQL Query. We’ve done a lot of work up to this point to get to the reason developers choose an ORM in the first place, writing queries.
We’ll also want to define our database connection string for demo purposes. To get started using EF Core 5, we need to define a class that derives from DbContext and contains our models. Typically, our classes will map one to one with our database tables, and relationships between tables are defined using navigational conventions. In the Code-First Approach, the EF Core creates the database and tables using Code-First Migration based on the default conventions and configuration.
Installing Entity Framework Core
For this, we need to create a Connection Object with the database, then Open the Connection, Create the Command Object and execute the Command using Data Reader or Data Adapter. And then we create DataSet or DataTables to store the data in memory to perform different types of Operations on the Data as per the business requirements. In the code-first what is entity framework approach, EF Core API creates the database and tables using migration based on the conventions and configuration provided in your domain classes. All data access in Entity Framework Core happens through a class that inherits from DbContext. In our project, we’ll implement a AcmeDataContext which exposes a DbSet property of People.
Executing the database update command will apply our migrations up to the latest. Every EF Core solution will have at least one DbContext implementation. We can use the NuGet tool window to find and install all these packages into our project. If you’re working on an existing project that already using EF6 or one that is linked to the .NET Framework, it’s still a good option to use EF 6. However, if you are developing new projects, particularly projects targeting .NET Core or .NET 5/6+, EF Core is the best choice. EF Core’s flexibility, performance improvements, and cross-platform capabilities make it the perfect selection for modern application development.
What is Entity Framework in .NET Framework?
In this scenario, a different context is used to retrieve and save data. One instance of context class is used to retrieve the data, and another is used to save the data. When an entity has the property of generic collection type, it is known as collective navigation property. Internally, these E-SQL queries are converted to SQL queries that are data store dependent. E-SQL queries are converted to datastore-specific query languages like T-SQL via the Entity Framework (Transact SQL). If you encounter Performance Issues, use profiling tools to analyze queries.
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. That means the Entity Framework eliminates the need for writing the data-access code that developers usually need to write. The above figure represents how an entity framework interacts with the domain class and database. It provides a connection between the business entity and data tables in the database. It saves data stored in the properties of business entities and also retrieves data from the database and converts it to business entities objects automatically.
Entity Framework is an ORM Tool and ORMs Tools are basically used to increase the developer’s productivity by reducing the redundant task of doing CRUD operation against a database in a .NET Application. Now copy and paste the following code in the main method of the program class as shown below. From our next article onwards, I am going to explain everything in detail. The Entity Framework Create Employee and Department classes automatically based on the Employees and Departments Tables. Tables are mapped to classes and columns are mapped to class properties.
- We’ll need to start at the Actors entity and navigate through the Characters collection while including the Production information.
- 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.
- Executing the database update command will apply our migrations up to the latest.
- The Entity Framework Core is an updated and enhanced version of the Entity Framework designed for .NET Core applications.
The following diagram illustrates where the Entity Framework fits into our application. The C# Entity Framework is a set of ADO.NET technologies that aid in developing data-driven software. C# Entity framework is an Object Relational Mapping (ORM) framework that gives developers an automated way to store and access databases. The Entity Framework https://deveducation.com/ allows developers to work with data at a higher level of abstraction. Entity Framework allows you to develop and maintain data-oriented apps with less code than traditional applications. Great, now that we have built our entities and relationships, let’s add them to our DbContext instance, which we’ll call EntertainmentDbContext.
I hope as folks read these sentences, they start to formulate the relationships in their mind. Next, you need to create a connection with your existing database. If this is the first time you are creating an EDM for your database, then you need to create a new connection by clicking on the New Connection… Here, we already have a connection, so select the database from the dropdown and click the Next button. This approach is an alternative for the code-first approach and the model-first approach. It creates the model and codes from the database in the project and connects them with the database and developer.